There You Go Again
by Hidge
Summary: Catherine Avery brings April a present from Boston and Jackson is not happy about it. Set between 9x04 - "I Saw Her Standing There" and 9x07 - "I Was Made For Lovin' You". Please R&R!
1. Part 1

**A/N: Remember when Jackson and April couldn't keep their hands off each other and we loved them for it? Yeah, this one shot is about that. It's also about the awesomeness of Mama Avery (a conversation about her inspired me to look at this doc that was just sitting on my computer).**

**The title comes from the Maroon 5 song "One More Night", which is like the ultimate early Season 9 Japril song. Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, obviously.**

* * *

Jackson managed a smile as he watched his mother approach from the other end of the hallway. It had only been a week since her last visit but he supposed that he would have to get used to her frequent presence since she was now dating Webber. He still didn't have to like it though.

"Baby," she smiled.

"Hey Mom," he replied softly as he kissed her on the cheek.

"You'll be thankful that I'm not here for you," she jested. "I really need to find April."

"Uh, she's," he stumbled, "I'm not sure where she is right now actually."

The last time that he had seen her had been in an on-call room earlier this morning. Yes, they were still having sex. They couldn't seem to stop and he wasn't sure if he wanted to. It would probably continue for the foreseeable future, they had finally stopped telling each other that every time was the last time, so that was progress. There was something about her that kept drawing him back in. _Everything_ about her kept drawing him back in. His dorky, high-strung best friend from Mercy West was all of a sudden the same woman that he couldn't keep his hands off. If he had it his way, she would be naked all of the time. The body that she hid underneath her scrubs was unreal.

"Why? What's going on?" He questioned curiously. "Are you here for a surgery?"

Catherine Avery shook her head but before she had a chance to respond a man around his age walked up to them.

"Sorry Dr. Avery," he chuckled. "I got a little lost."

"That's okay, dear," Catherine smiled warmly. Her smile widened considerably when she spotted something over Jackson's shoulder. "April, honey, come here!"

The red-head spun around after depositing her chart at the nurses' station. "Hi Dr. Avery," she replied timidly. She was absolutely petrified that the woman would find out about her and Jackson but her anxiety turned to curiosity, and then to fear, when she noticed the strange man standing between Jackson and his mother.

Surely Catherine wouldn't have…? She would never…? Would she…?

"April, this is a colleague of mine, Dr. Wellman. I suggested that you could show him around today if you're not too busy."

Apparently, Catherine _would_ do what April had feared. She had brought her the smart fellow from the Brigham's gynecology department. The one that could "tutor" her.

April smiled awkwardly. "I actually just finished surgery for the day," she replied truthfully. She was on-call for any major trauma, but other than that she was free. She outstretched her hand and introduced herself pleasantly. "Hi, April Kepner."

"Jared Wellman," he responded.

He was cute in a John Krasinski from _The Office_ kind of way. He was tall and he had a warm smile, glasses, and brown hair.

"I can show you around too," Jackson butted in. "I'm Jackson Avery." He really didn't like the fact that he was essentially being ignored.

Catherine dismissed his suggestion with a wave of her hand. "Nonsense, you're busy." Her son opened his mouth to speak again but she silenced him with a stern look.

Jared shifted his feet and fiddled with the tie that he was wearing. "Shall we get started?"

"Sure," April nodded.

Jackson barely waited until the two walked off before he rounded on his mother. "What do you think you're doing?"

Catherine could barely contain her enthusiasm. "Ah hush! He's cute and crazy smart, and he's a nice boy. He's perfect for April. I know what I'm doing."

"W-what?" Jackson spluttered. "You're setting her up?" He asked incredulously. "This _so_ isn't any of your business." April had said that his mother was obsessed with her sex life but he didn't think that she'd go as far as to bring her a guy from Boston! He had underestimated her yet again.

She rolled her eyes at her son's response. "She's like the daughter I never had and she needs a man in her life. This will be good for her, you'll see," she declared beaming with positivity.

"She has me," he replied automatically.

"Honey," Catherine sighed, "you're her best friend. She needs a man to help her…loosen up. She's so uptight."

Jackson grimaced, "Mom." He hated when his mother talked about sex and it's not like he could come out and say that he was doing an excellent job of helping April "loosen up".

"Just let her be, and don't think about it," Catherine advised as she patted his cheek before walking anyway.

Jackson sighed as he grabbed one of his patients' charts off of the counter. He knew that one day April would meet a guy…date…get married…have kids, but he didn't think that it would be anytime soon. He thought that they would have a bit more time together. His mother was right; he really didn't want to think about April with anyone else. It made him inexplicably angry.

* * *

April opened the door to the observation gallery and announced with a smile. "And this is OR 2."

She had shown Jared Wellman everything in the hospital that he could possibly be interested in, and to be honest, she wasn't sure why she was giving him a tour in the first place. He had a great position at the Brigham, and that's probably where he wanted to stay. He got to work with Catherine Avery; it didn't get much better than that in his field. Only Addison Montgomery would be higher up on the ladder.

"This is a really great hospital," Jared commented kindly.

"It is," April smiled.

They left the gallery of OR 2 and headed back down the hallway. Eventually, April's curiosity got the better of her.

"So, why are you in Seattle?"

Jared replied smoothly, "Dr. Avery likes us to keep our options open. I finish my fellowship in June and it's never too early to look at new hospitals."

"So, um, what exactly did Dr. Avery tell you about me?" She questioned uneasily.

"Nothing, really," he smiled. "Just that you're a friend of her son's." The pretty red-head arched an eyebrow and he caved quickly. "April Kepner, 30, born and raised in Moline, Ohio. Undergrad at Ohio State and med school at Washington University in St. Louis. You have three sisters. You like Chinese food, chocolate ice cream, and red anemones. Your favourite movie is _Pretty In Pink_." He stopped and grinned, "Oh, and you're a trauma surgeon."

April's mouth dropped open in shock. "What did she do? Prepare a pamphlet?" She muttered.

Jared laughed. "No, it was a thick, bound book with tabs, and a table of contents, and everything."

April couldn't stop herself from laughing along with him. "I'm so sorry."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, she's not handing out the April Kepner package to everyone," he joked.

April rolled her eyes and giggled. "That makes me feel so much better," she answered sarcastically. "I love Dr. Avery but sometimes she's just so…"

She trailed off and he supplied a word with a grin. "Invasive?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

Jared smiled brightly as they continued to walk down the hallway. "Although I have to say that this is the best thing that she's ever forced me to do." It was hard not to like the intelligent, pleasant surgeon, and she was beautiful.

April blushed involuntarily. At least he was nice, he wasn't a creep. "Yeah, it could be worse."

He smiled down at her again but whatever he had been about to say was interrupted by her pager. "Oh, I'm sorry, I have to take this."

"That's fine," Jared answered understandingly. "Duty calls."

April left the nice man and made her way to the pit. She was incredibly confused when no one seemed to be looking for her. She was about to ask a nurse who had paged her when two strong arms grabbed her from behind and began to pull her to the nearest on-call room.

She turned her neck and looked up at Jackson in confusion. "Who paged me? Did you page me?"

"Yeah," he grinned as he opened the door to the on-call room and ushered her inside. "You're done surgery for the day and I'm free, so I figured…"

His sentence trailed off but she knew exactly what he had figured. It was no secret what was on his mind and he wasted no time in letting her know. He pulled her tight against his chest and kissed her hungrily as he pushed her lab coat off of her shoulders. She eagerly responded to him and tugged on the drawstrings of his pants.

She pulled his scrub top over his head and he stripped her down to her tank top and underwear before he moved her to the bed. He sat down and pulled her into his lap, with her legs resting on either side of his.

"You smell different," he commented.

April pulled away from him with wide eyes. "Do I smell bad?" She questioned self-consciously.

He grinned again before he leaned forward to kiss her neck. "No, you smell good, you always smell good." He pushed his nose into her hair and inhaled deeply. "You just smell different."

"Oh, well, I changed my shampoo." But she wouldn't have thought that he would notice such a small change.

He kissed down her neck and along her shoulder, and he smiled to himself when she moaned softly. He caught the straps of her tank top and bra in his teeth and began to tug them down her shoulder. She loved it when he did that and he knew it. She ran both of her hands down his back as she shifted her body against his. His hands tightened on her waist and he reflexively thrust his hips upwards.

However, their pleasure was short lived. Jackson groaned in annoyance when her phone chimed loudly. "Who would be texting instead of paging you?"

April sighed, "I'm willing to bet it's your mother."

Jackson reached down and grabbed her coat off of the floor so that he could get her cell phone for her. He handed the device to her but continued to kiss her neck as she rested her elbows on his shoulders and read the screen over his head.

"Yup," she chuckled, "it's your mother, and she wants to know where I am."

"Tell her that you're in the middle of a very important consult," he suggested naughtily.

April bit down on her bottom lip and carelessly tossed her phone aside before she tilted his head upwards so that their lips could meet. He was so good at this; he melted her with just a kiss. It was no wonder that she kept falling into bed with him. It was like she had no control over herself around him. It felt too good…his mouth and his hands…

And he wasn't some random guy, he was _Jackson_. Her Jackson. He knew her better than anyone, her cared for her, and he was sweet. She was comfortable with him. She was beginning to convince herself that what they were doing wasn't wrong.

Her phone went off again and they both ignored it.

He moved down to her neck again and started to bite and suck on her fair skin. She tried to squirm away from him but it was no use. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him down onto his back.

"What are you doing?" She asked rather strictly.

He looked up at her innocently. "Nothing."

She playfully smacked his muscular chest before she leaned down to kiss him. "Like people won't be suspicious if they see me walking around the hospital with a hickey."

He tangled both of his hands in her beautiful hair and melded his mouth to hers. "It wouldn't be a big deal," he argued between kisses. He knew that she would never be receptive to what he was saying but he just wanted to leave a mark on her so that the gynecologist would know that she was taken. She was somebody else's.

"Yeah, not gonna happen," she chuckled. She sat up straight again and whipped her tank top over her head. "At least not on my neck," she purred.

Jackson growled before he buried his face in her cleavage. It was things like that that kept drawing him back in. Yes, she rambled about Jesus and talked about re-virginizing, and sometimes she hinted that she regretted giving him her virginity, but then she said things like that, or she bit down on her bottom lip and looked at him a certain way, or she did something else that drove him completely crazy and turned him on.

"Dr. Kepner to the main lobby. Dr. Kepner to the main lobby."

"She's using the PA system now?" Jackson questioned in disbelief.

"Apparently," April sighed.

She started to move off of his lap but he held her in place. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I should go. She's not going to leave me alone." She hopped off of the bed and began to redress. She glanced back at him and saw that he was practically pouting. "Don't give me that face," she laughed.

He ignored her joking tone. "So, what? You have to run off and spend time with my mother's new pet?"

She arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I didn't know you were possessive."

"I'm not," he lied. "I'm horny and halfway there."

April walked back towards the bed and gave him a soft kiss. "I'll make it up to you later."

He nodded and watched April leave the room. With a sigh, he fell back onto the bed and squeezed his eyes shut. His mother had made a promise to stay out of his personal business and so far she hadn't broken that promise. Unfortunately for him, his mother had transferred the energy that she used to focus on him onto April. She was trying to find April the perfect guy and as a result, his mother was ruining his sex life without even knowing it.

* * *

April approached Catherine and Jared with a bright smile. "I am so sorry about that," she apologized. "I had a consult."

"That's okay," Jared smiled. "Do you want to get some lunch?"

"Sure," she nodded. "But I will warn you about the cafeteria food."

Jared chuckled, "I'm sure that something there will be edible."

"Well why don't you two go out for a nice dinner tonight to make up for it?" Catherine intervened with an uncontrollable grin.

April repeatedly opened and closed her mouth and Jared turned to her nervously. "If you want to then we can." He slipped his hands into the pockets of his dress pants and rocked back on his heels. "Do you want to go to dinner with me?"

Her gut reaction was to turn down his polite offer but the way that Jackson's mother was staring at her made it hard to speak. "Um…uh…okay…yeah," she finally stammered. She smiled a little more brightly before she spoke again. "Sure."

Jared was nice company and she would view this as doing a favour for Catherine. If the elder Avery tried to pressure her into anything in the near future then she would have a card to play.

Jared nodded happily. "Great. That's great, but I guess we should eat lunch first."

Catherine watched gleefully as the two young people walked off together. April seemed to like him and Jared had just spent the past fifteen minutes gushing about her. She had really hit this one out of the park. Now if she could only find a woman for her son.

* * *

April placed her tray on the cafeteria table and sat down in a chair as she and Jared continued the conversation that they had started in the food line. "I don't think that you decided to specialize in gynecology for perverted reasons," she giggled.

He flushed as he sat down as well and nervously straightened his tie. "I just feel like I always have to explain that to women," he confessed bashfully.

"Well I'm also a doctor so you don't have to explain that to me," she smiled.

"I thought about surgery," he mentioned casually after he had taken a bite out of his sandwich.

April's eyes lit up in excitement. "Really? What changed your mind?"

"People told me that my hands are too dumpy," he chuckled.

"What?" She laughed loudly. "What does that even mean? Let me see your hands!" He laid his hands on the table and she inquisitively inspected them. "Your hands look fine to me. I have no idea what you're talking about."

He laughed as he gently grabbed one of her hands. "Yeah, but yours are all slender and perfect."

April blushed and realized that once again, he was flirting with her. What she didn't realize was that Jackson, who was sitting on the other side of cafeteria with Alex, was watching their interaction very closely.

"What the hell is with the hand touching?" Jackson asked himself more than Karev.

"Maybe they're praying together," his friend snickered.

Jackson glared at him before returning to his soup and sandwich. "I just don't understand what my mother is doing," he began to rant. "I mean, what is she thinking? Bringing a guy all the way from Boston for April? It's practically prostitution. My mother is a pimp."

Alex laughed as he observed the plastic surgeon's perturbed expression. "Dude, you are so jealous."

Jackson stared at him in disbelief. "That's what you picked up from that? I am not jealous," he denied.

"You so are," he laughed triumphantly. "You should see yourself. The way that you're staring holes through that dweeb. Just go over there and pee on her. That will be more effective."

Jackson ignored him and stated adamantly, "I'm not jealous. I just think that this whole thing is a tad ridiculous. April doesn't need any help with men."

Alex stopped stuffing his mouth with fries and had to stop himself from guffawing loudly. They were talking about the same April Kepner, right? "Do you hear yourself? If anyone needs help with men, it's her. No offense," he added after a beat.

"Whatever," Jackson muttered childishly.

He grabbed his tray and left the cafeteria before he decided to throw a full tantrum. He had no idea what was going on with him. He hadn't even felt this way about Lexie and Mark, and it's not like April was in love with this guy. She had just met him! Hell, he and April weren't even a real couple so he didn't even have any legitimate reason to feel this way.

She just kept messing with his head. She made him feel things that he had never felt before.

He found solace in the empty attendings' lounge but it wasn't long before Karev walked in, followed shortly by April.

The red-head walked towards the kitchen counter to grab a cup of coffee while the peds surgeon stood by the table in the middle of the room. He grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl before a package on the table caught his attention. It was a white, rectangular box with a red ribbon. He grabbed the card and read who it was addressed to.

"Hey Kepner, there's a present here for you. It's from Avery's Mom."

Jackson curiously raised his head from his spot on the couch and April accepted the card from Alex.

She read the short note quietly to herself, "Use wisely and have fun." The message ended with one of those winking faces.

She pulled on the red ribbon and slowly lifted the top off of the box. Her face instantly flushed and she dropped the box cover like it was hot to the touch. "Oh my gosh," she stated in horror.

Alex rushed to her side out of pure nosiness and cackled at the box's contents. "Avery, your mother is _awesome_."

Jackson jumped to his feet but April grabbed the box and the discarded cover before he could see what his mother had given her. She held the box tightly to her chest and shyly peered up at him. "You really don't need to see what's in here."

He furrowed his brow in confusion and turned to Karev, but the other man was still too busy laughing.

"I have to go," April murmured before she fled the room.

"Care to share?" Jackson asked Karev in annoyance.

Alex paused to increase the suspense, and Avery's irritation. "Your Mom sent her lingerie. Red. Lacy. Hot." He frowned as he patted his friend on the back. "But I don't think it's meant for your eyes, my friend. It's for the guy from the gynie squad."

Jackson pursed his lips as he mulled over Karev's words. He was right, and Jackson didn't like it one bit.

* * *

After changing out of her scrubs, April tentatively approached the nurses' station where Jackson was standing. "Hey," she whispered.

He glanced up from his chart and offered her a tired smile. "Hey, are you heading home now?"

She nervously chewed on her bottom lip before she shook her head. "No, um, Jared is taking me out to dinner."

"Oh." He wasn't sure how good of a job he had done at disguising the disappointment in his voice, but he figured that it was passable.

"But you could come with us if you want," she replied quickly. "Or if you don't want me to go then—"

He interrupted her with a shake of his head. "No, it's fine." He realized that he had been repeatedly clicking the top of his pen, something that he only did when he was pissed off, so he slipped the pen into his breast pocket. "You can go out to dinner with whoever you want, right? I'm not your boyfriend," he added with a quiet laugh.

She hung her head and looked down at her shoes. She couldn't help but feel a tad hurt by his words. She would have taken it to heart if he hadn't been acting so strange all day. He was acting like…well...he was acting like he was jealous.

"Jackson, if you want to do something tonight then we can," she said as she offered him another opportunity to be honest with her. "I can tell him that I had plans I forgot about, or make up an emergency, or something."

He vehemently shook his head again. "No, go out with him. My Mom will be so happy," he stated with a fake smile.

She huffed, now she knew for sure that he was jealous. "Fine, okay, I will see you tomorrow."

She spun on her heel and walked away from him. He reached out his hand and thought about calling out for her but he bit his tongue. He closed his hand and hit himself on the forehead with his closed fist as he released a groan. He was such an idiot. It was just that every time he said something to April it felt like the wrong thing. He knew her better than anyone else yet he had no idea what to say to her.

His internal monologue was interrupted by his mother's voice. "What's wrong, baby?"

He composed himself before he turned around to face her. "Nothing, nothing's wrong. I'm just tired."

Catherine reached out and gently rubbed his forearm. "You look tired. You should go home and get some rest." There was a brief silence before she asked, "Are you still worried about April?"

Jackson rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. "No, Mom." He didn't want to think about April with that gynecologist for another second. "I'm calling it a night. I will see you tomorrow." He kissed his mother on the cheek before he headed down the hall, passing Webber along the way.

"What's bothering him?" Richard asked Catherine as they watched Jackson's retreating figure.

Catherine frowned unsurely. "He's stressed about something, but I don't know what."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Richard told her confidently.

* * *

Jackson went home and decided to have a few beers before turning in early. He was awoken just before eleven o'clock by the ringing of his doorbell. He dragged himself out of bed and didn't even bother to put on any clothes over his black boxer briefs.

He looked through his peephole and was surprised to see April on the other side of his door. Her hair was immaculately curled, she was wearing dark makeup, and her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her trench coat. She looked good, but then again, she always looked good.

He unlocked his front door and opened it. He told himself that he was only opening the door because she looked so damn good, but deep down he knew that it was more than that.

"What? Was your date with the gynecologist a bust?" He questioned grumpily.

She tilted her head to the side and looked at him in annoyance. He was acting like a child. "Just let me in."

He rolled his eyes, but did as she requested. He pulled the door open wider and stepped aside so that she could enter his apartment, and then he promptly closed the door behind her.

"If you didn't want me to go out with him then that's all you had to say," she began.

All throughout her lovely dinner with Jared, Jackson had been the only thing that she could think about. Jackson…with his eyes and his body, and his ability to talk her down, and the weird jealousy vibes that she had been picking up on all day…

Jackson just shrugged. "It wasn't my place."

"We're sleeping together, so I think it's kind of your place," she argued.

He scratched his bare chest and yawned. "Why are you really here, April?" He asked tiredly. He knew her well enough to know when she was beating around the bush.

She huffed in annoyance. "I just want you to admit that you were jealous."

He scoffed and placed his hands on his hips. "I was not jealous."

"Yes, you were." She was willing to fight him on this until she was blue in the face. She knew that she was right. "Just admit it!"

He started to laugh but his breath caught in his throat when she untied the belt of her trench coat and tossed the garment aside. All that she was wearing was lacy, red lingerie. Lingerie and heels. The skimpy nightgown looked unbelievable against her pale skin, and his hands itched to tangle in her auburn hair falling down over her shoulders, _and_ her outfit left very little to the imagination. It had to be the lingerie that his mother had sent her.

He swore under his breath before he advanced towards her and caught her around the waist. He crushed his mouth to hers and she draped her arms over his shoulders. He gripped her waist, feeling the lacy material beneath his fingertips, while his other hand slipped down to cup her behind.

He pulled away from her mouth and growled when he discovered what was beneath her nightgown. "You're not wearing any panties."

"Nope," she replied breathlessly. She clutched his back as she dropped kisses down his neck. "Admit it," she sing-songed.

"Fine," he groaned as his grip on her tightened even further. "I was jealous. That guy was just so…ugh…and my mother is so freakin' crazy…"

He stopped talking before something much more serious slipped out, like the fact that he didn't want anyone else to have her.

April giggled at his answer. She kissed him on the lips again and his hands roved over her body. His reaction to her, and her outfit, was proof enough. She pulled away from him and grabbed his hand. "Show me your bedroom," she whispered seductively.

Jackson grinned excitedly. "I can show you every room and every surface of this apartment if you want me to."

She giggled and he stared at her butt and the sway of her hips as she led him down the hall. He was a very big fan of her outfit and it was one of the few things that his mother had done recently that he wasn't upset about.

In fact, he probably owed her a pretty big thank you.

* * *

**A/N: This was just a little bit of fun to get us through the hiatus. Please leave a review! :)**


	2. Part 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! You guys are the best! I changed the rating of this story for reasons that will become clear (lol). Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

"Wow," Jackson panted. "That was…That was…" He turned his neck so that their eyes could meet and he was pleased to see that she seemed just as speechless as he was. He couldn't seem to find a statement that could accurately sum up how incredible that had been. "I'm glad you came over."

He wasn't sure if he had ever seen her more confident than she had been earlier tonight, and it had been sexy as hell. The only other incident that it was comparable to was San Francisco. Her confidence had turned him on that night as well.

April giggled breathlessly. "I'm glad I came over too." She pushed her hair out of her face as she continued to laugh. That time had been the best so far, Jackson's jealousy made sex even better apparently. His hands and his lips had been so…insistent, it was like she could feel how possessive he truly was.

She glanced towards his bedside table and read the time off of his clock radio. It was after midnight. She leaned over Jackson and kissed him in thanks as she raked her nails down his chiselled torso. "I should probably get going." She softly kissed his lips again before pulling away. "I'll see you in the morning."

He slipped an arm around her waist before she could move an inch. He placed his other hand on the back of her skull and slipped his fingers into her hair. He tugged her mouth back to his. "Stay here," he murmured, "in my bed, naked and beautiful."

April blushed at his words. He usually only said things like that in the heat of the moment. "I can't," she protested weakly. "I don't have anything to wear into work tomorrow. I don't have any underwear."

Jackson smirked at her words as he stroked her hip. "That's true, you don't have any underwear, but we can stop by your place on our way in tomorrow morning."

He just didn't want her to leave. Maybe it was because of the way her pale skin looked in contrast to his charcoal bed sheets, or maybe it was the way her hair splayed out on the pillow, or maybe it was the innocent way she held the bed sheet to her chest, like he hadn't seen her naked before. His reasons really didn't matter to him; he knew that he wasn't going to let her leave this bed.

April thoughtfully chewed on her bottom lip as he dragged his mouth along her jaw. She wanted to stay, and continue doing this, but they never spent the night together. One of them always left, usually it was her. They were just having sex, they weren't dating, and April wasn't sure if spending the night together was against the rules.

"Okay," she finally breathed. "I can stay."

Jackson grinned against her neck before he pulled back to kiss her mouth. "Cool," he stated trying to sound nonchalant. "I'm going to get a glass of water. Do you want anything?" He hopped out of bed and pulled on his boxers. He started to shake his head when he noticed her start to get up as well. "I was serious," he stated with a laugh. He walked over to the side of the bed that she was sitting on and stared at her until she stopped moving. He leaned down, placed his hands on the mattress, and gave her a quick kiss. "Stay, naked and beautiful," he reiterated with a grin. "Now, do you want anything from the kitchen?"

"I'll have a glass of water too, please," she smiled shyly.

He smiled back at her before he sauntered out of his bedroom. He walked into his kitchen with the biggest grin on his face. He knew that he needed to get a hold of himself but he was so happy that he didn't care. He couldn't even remember the last time that April had mentioned Jesus and pre-marital sex; he considered it to be major progress.

He was starting to firmly believe in their mantra: something that feels really good cannot be bad. And being with April felt so unbelievably good.

He returned to his bedroom with two glasses of water and handed her one.

"Thanks," she said quietly. She sipped from the glass before she looked around the room in interest. "This is nice. Your new place, it's nice." This was her first time seeing his new apartment but it was very nice, comfortable and not too bland.

Jackson finished his water before he lay back on his bed again. "Thanks," he replied. He reached across the bed and started to caress her bare back with his fingertips. She was still sitting up, with the thin bed sheet wrapped tightly around her body, and holding her glass of water with both hands. Something was off. "What's wrong?" He inquired softly.

April shook her head and laid her glass on the bedside table. She supposed that she was a little tense because this all felt very "boyfriend-like", but he had made it very clear that he wasn't her boyfriend.

She just needed to stop thinking.

"Nothing," she answered with a smile. She leaned down to kiss him and quickly maneuvered her body so that she was lying on top of him. "I was just feeling a little light-headed," she lied. "But I'm fine now."

Jackson looked up at her in concern as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Do you want me to put those heels back on?"

Jackson grinned mischievously. He loved that she was even thinking about doing that. "They are ridiculously hot." He continued to run his hands up and down her back as he said, "Actually, can I just keep that entire outfit?"

April giggled as she felt her face flush. "I have no idea what came over me, I—"

He interrupted her before she could apologize, or worse. "It was a _very_ pleasant surprise." He kissed her before he used his strength to flip her onto her back. He nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth before he asked huskily, "Wanna go again?"

She arched an eyebrow and teasingly inquired, "Are you _ready_ to go again?"

Jackson growled and pinched her waist in response before he eagerly claimed her mouth.

* * *

Somehow Jackson awoke before April the next morning and the first thing that he did was smile. He moved from lying on his back to lying on his side so that he could watch her sleep. She was ridiculously cute in the morning. Her hair was all mussed and she looked so peaceful. Every now and then, her nose would twitch in her sleep and it was the freakin' cutest thing.

Why hadn't they done this before?

He raised his hand and delicately ran his fingers down her bare arm. She was covered in freckles and he had never noticed…well, he hadn't noticed until he had seen her naked. But her freckles were also really cute. They made him want to kiss her all over.

He moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He started to kiss along her shoulder and up her neck, and she slowly awoke. Her eyes fluttered open and she stretched her limbs before closing her eyes again and rolling over onto her side so that her back was facing him.

Jackson smiled smugly to himself as he followed her to the other side of the bed. April was normally an early riser, it was the farm girl in her, and so if she wasn't waking up it meant that she was exhausted. He had worn her out and that was always an accomplishment worth being proud of.

He spooned her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Good morning, April."

"Mornin'," she mumbled sleepily.

"I'm going to get in the shower."

"Okay," she sighed. "Wake me when you're done, then I'll take one."

Jackson chuckled at her naiveté. "Join me. It'll be fun."

April's eyes shot wide open. It was a statement not a question. He was right, it would be fun but the lighting in showers was so harsh. It was so…exposed. She had felt exceptionally confident last night, but that had kind of dissipated. "No, um, I think I'll just sleep a little while longer."

He frowned but decided not to push her. "Okay." He quickly kissed her on the top of the head before he hopped to his feet.

April rolled over onto her back and watched him walk into the bathroom. He looked so delicious naked. She bit down on her bottom lip as she watched the muscles in his back flex.

It _would_ be so fun…

And what were the chances that she was going to have sex in the shower again in the near future? She figured that the odds were pretty slim.

She slipped out of bed and padded into the bathroom. Jackson must have heard her because he called out over the spray of water. "Change your mind?"

"Maybe," she replied. "Close your eyes."

Jackson laughed to himself but he did as he was told. "Okay, my eyes are closed."

April opened the shower door and stepped inside. She felt a little smug to see that he hadn't been lying, his eyes were actually closed. She took a moment to just look at him before she walked up to him. He looked beautiful standing under the shower head with water pouring over him, and she couldn't help but notice that he was already hard. She placed her hands on his stomach and his muscles twitched underneath her touch. She grinned before she whispered, "You can open your eyes now."

His eyes flew open and he smiled down at her. "Hi." He didn't give her a chance to respond; he cupped her face and leaned down to kiss her. She slipped her hands up his back and held onto him as he kissed her passionately.

He pushed her against the wall and smiled against her mouth when she moaned. He was so pleased that she had decided to join him. He knew that her initial rejection of his suggestion stemmed from her body issues. Body issues that he totally didn't understand.

He pulled her hands off of his body and entwined their fingers. She squirmed against him but he raised her hands above her head and pressed them to the wall. "Jackson," she whimpered as she bucked her hips against his.

He couldn't stop himself from smirking down at her. He knew that she liked to be in control, she liked being the boss, so it was fun to tease her this way. "April," he playfully replied.

She pouted but he wiped the expression off of her face with a kiss. "Trust me," he murmured against her lips.

"I do trust you," she argued. If she didn't trust him then she wouldn't even be doing this in the first place. "I just want my hands back."

He chuckled, "You're not going to need them."

She furrowed her brow in confusion but decided to go with the flow when he dropped his mouth to her neck. He continued kissing down her body until he was on his knees. He hoisted her left leg over his shoulder and pressed his mouth to her center.

"Ooh, okay," she squeaked. He had finally released her hands but now she had no idea what to do with them. She threaded one through her hair while the other massaged his scalp. She tossed her head back and groaned his name. They had never done this before but she was instantly a fan.

He continued his actions with his lips and his tongue while one of his hands slipped up her thigh to grab her butt.

She cried out again and she had no idea that he was enjoying it as much as she was. He glanced up at her and became even more aroused. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth. She looked so sexy when she was close to orgasm.

The only thing that could make him want her more was if she…

He produced a deep rumbling sound in the back of his throat when her hand left her hair and cupped her breast. So freakin' hot…and it made him even more determined to coax her over the edge.

She whimpered his name and dug her heel into his back as a wave of pleasure swept over her.

He lazily kissed back up her body, up her stomach and across her chest, until he reached her mouth. She giggled into his kiss and slipped her arms around his waist.

"Thank you," she breathed. "You didn't have to do that."

He hummed before giving her another kiss. "I wanted to."

His breath hitched when she grasped his hardened length and she grinned. "Your turn."

He chuckled huskily as she slowly worked her way down his body much like he had done to her.

She had just taken him into her mouth when his doorbell rang. He smacked his head against the shower wall as he groaned in frustration. Whoever that was had the worst timing in the world and he hated them irrationally.

April got to her feet and looked at him sheepishly. "You should probably get that."

"Yeah," he agreed regretfully. He gave her a searing kiss before he stepped out of the shower. "Wash up, I'll be back in a second," he promised.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and ran to his front door. He pulled the door open without looking through the peephole first and was horrified by who was visiting him. "Mom!"

"Good morning, baby!" She smiled brightly. "I brought you breakfast!" She announced as she held up a bag of pastries.

"Uhh…" Jackson stammered as he held onto the door while kicking April's coat, which had been left on the floor, into the corner. "Now's not really the best time."

"Nonsense," Catherine said dismissively as she pushed her way inside. "It's never a bad time to spend time with your mother."

Jackson looked around uncomfortably. "No, now really isn't good for me," he insisted. "I was going to go into the hospital early," he lied. "I have a lot of stuff to do."

Catherine narrowed her eyes as she watched him fidget. She had never seen her son like this before, it was like he was afraid that she was going to catch him with his hand in the cookie jar. She focused on the noise in the background and realized why he was acting the way that he was. The shower was still running.

She smiled at him rather proudly. "You have a girl here, don't you?" He looked at her like an embarrassed little boy and it only increased her excitement. "Who is she? How long have you been seeing her? Is it serious? Can I meet her?"

"No! You can't meet her," he replied incredulously. "You promised that you'd stay out of my love life so you need to go, right now."

"But Jackson," she started to protest as he pushed her back towards the door.

"I'll talk to you later, Mom! Bye," he spoke rapidly before closing the door and locking it.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he ran a hand over his face. He headed back to his bathroom and tossed the towel aside. He re-entered the shower and was pleased to see that April was still in a rather frisky mood.

"There you are," she grinned as she pulled him forward. "I was getting antsy."

* * *

April grabbed a stack of her patients' charts from the nurses' station but was prevented from walking down the hallway by a familiar voice. She spun around and pleasantly smiled at her favourite meddling urologist. "Dr. Avery, good morning. You're still here?"

Catherine nodded. "I'm flying out tonight. Now, dear, tell me all about your date."

"Oh, um…" April awkwardly shuffled her feet and looked down at the floor. Honestly, after her night and morning with Jackson, she had forgotten all about Jared. "Well it wasn't really a date."

"Of course it was!" Catherine replied with an excited grin. "Did you go back to his hotel room?"

April blushed and avoided eye contact. "No…it was just dinner."

Catherine frowned and sighed in disappointment. "Some other time then, _soon_," she stressed. "I'm sure he'll have no problem flying out every now and then to see you. His schedule is fairly flexible, and if need be, I can pull some strings."

The red-head's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "We're…Dr. Wellman… Jared and I…we're not…"

April laughed awkwardly and she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, honey, you don't have to be nervous. He really likes you."

April was feeling more awkward and terrible by the second but Catherine continued to speak.

"Do you know who Jackson's seeing right now? I stopped by his apartment this morning and he had a lady friend in the shower. He rushed me out of there pretty quickly," she sing-songed.

April didn't think that it was possible for her eyes to get any wider but they did. Jackson's mother had been their morning visitor? She had never felt more embarrassed in her life and the woman didn't even know that it was her.

"Um, no," she finally responded. "I have no idea who he's seeing."

"Based on his actions, she must be quite the vixen. I just hope she isn't dumb," Catherine sighed. "In college, he always dated the most brain dead girls. He's always picked breasts over brains."

"I'm sure she's very smart," April responded rather defensively. "Uh…Whoever she is." She scratched her head as she realized that she needed to stop talking and run away. "Anyway, I have to go, lots of patients and stuff. See you later, Dr. Avery!" She called as she walked away.

She turned the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when she ran into her intern for the week. "Brooks! Thank God!" She deposited the charts into the tiny woman's arms and instructed her to check on her post-ops. "I have to go do something important! Page me if it's an emergency!"

Her "something important" involved seeking out Jackson and pulling him into an on-call room. She wanted to talk but obviously he thought that they were in here for a very different reason.

He slipped his hands down to cup her backside and pressed his lips to hers with a grin. "Back for more already?" He asked her teasingly. "It's only been like an hour."

"Slow down, Don Juan," she responded as she pushed on his chest. "You did not tell me that your mother was in your apartment this morning."

His shoulders slumped as he realized that he probably wouldn't be getting any now. "Well yeah, she came, she left. It wasn't a big deal. She doesn't know it was you." And there was no way that he would have told her this morning…then he definitely wouldn't have gotten a blow job…or a romp on his kitchen table.

"She also thinks that Jared and I are like an official couple or something," she ranted with a hint of frustration. "And she said that you usually only sleep with dumb girls with big boobs."

Jackson chuckled as he ran a hand over his face. His mother needed a muzzle sometimes. "April, you don't need me to tell you that you're not dumb," he laughed softly.

"I know," she muttered as she looked away from him. "The breasts over brains comment just threw me for a loop."

He rolled his eyes before grabbing her waist and pulling her back into him. "She's leaving tonight," he reminded her.

He leaned down to kiss her but she tilted her head away from his at the last second. "You don't think my boobs are more attractive than my brain, do you?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Jackson swallowed nervously. "Why do I have a feeling that whatever I say is going to get me in trouble?"

April giggled before pushing herself up onto the tips of her toes so that she could kiss him. "Right, sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that." She kissed him again before she stepped towards the door. "I have to go but I'll see you later."

"Okay," he smiled. "Bye."

Jackson left the on-call room a few minutes after April and decided to head upstairs to check on the burn center. He stepped into the elevator and was greeted by the rather dorky gynecology fellow that his mother was trying to push on April.

"Good morning, Dr. Avery."

"Morning, Dr. Wellman," he responded. Despite the fact that he didn't want to see the guy, now was a good time to set the record straight. He pressed the button to close the elevator doors before he spoke again. "So, listen, I kinda need to talk to you."

Jared raised both of his eyebrows in confusion. "Oh?"

Jackson ran a hand over his beard. "April and I…we're…well, she's my…she's kinda," he stumbled over his words until he took a deep breath. "She's _my_ girl. We're together, know what I mean?"

The gynecologist stared at the plastic surgeon in confusion. "That's not what Dr. Avery…uh, that's not what your mother said. She said that you guys are just friends."

"That's because my mother doesn't know," he explained. "And can't know! She'd get too involved and she'd ruin everything."

"Oh, okay," Jared replied understandingly, if not a bit disappointed. April had told him that she wasn't in a good place to get involved with him, but she hadn't mentioned another guy, and he would have never thought that she was with pretty boy Avery.

"So can you just keep this from my mother?" Jackson pleaded.

Jared fiddled with his tie. "What am I supposed to tell Dr. Avery? I already told her how much I like April."

Jackson felt his jealous streak take center stage again but he managed to control himself. "I dunno," he replied as the elevator slid to a halt. "Just tell her that you wanna focus on your career right now or something." He stepped out of the elevator with a grateful smile. "I really owe you."

"Yeah, don't mention it," Jared mumbled grumpily.

Jackson walked down the hallway with a spring in his step. There was no way that Jared Wellman was going to tattle on him, the gynecology fellow seemed just as terrified of his mother as he was. His mood dampened a little when he encountered the very woman that he had been thinking about. His mother knew exactly where he would be and she had been waiting for him.

"Well, whoever she is, she certainly puts a smile on your face."

Jackson decided that his best course of action was plausible deniability. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Catherine laughed as she stepped up to him and pinched his cheeks. He absolutely hated when she did that yet he was still grinning. "I haven't seen you like this in a very long time," she stated quietly. "You've fallen for her."

"Leave it alone, Mom," he responded as he stepped out of her grip and walked around the nurses' station.

Surprisingly, his mother walked away without another word, leaving Jackson slightly worried as he logged onto a computer.

His mother was right, he had fallen for April. He had fallen for her without even realizing it. That's why he had gotten all sappy this morning while he had watched her sleep; it was also why he had gotten so jealous yesterday. It was why he had essentially begged her to stay the night.

It was supposed to be just sex. He had cared for her before they had started sleeping together, but he had never imagined that he would develop these kinds of feelings for her. She was April Kepner, albeit a very different April Kepner than the one that he had known for the past five years, but still. He wasn't _supposed_ to fall for her.

He leaned forward, rested his chin on the tabletop of the nurses' station, and groaned. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with these new feelings. He certainly wasn't going to tell her about them.

* * *

April closed the curtain behind her after paging for an ortho consult and she was surprised to practically collide with Jared Wellman. "Oh, hi!"

"Hi," he replied with a rather sad smile. "I just thought I'd say goodbye before I head back to my hotel. It was really nice to meet you."

"It was really nice to meet you too," she answered happily. "I had a nice time yesterday."

Jared merely nodded before he offered, "Good luck with your relationship with Dr. Avery."

April's mouth dropped open. "Um, what?"

"He told me that you guys are a couple," he tentatively explained. "Although he didn't seem very confident about it, sounded kinda sketchy, but," he paused to shrug. "Who am I to judge?"

The red-head laughed awkwardly before she spoke again. "Jackson and I…we're not…it's not like that." They were just having sex, she told herself.

Jared couldn't help but smile, that's exactly how Avery had sounded. "Well, like I said, good luck."

He waved before he turned around and left the emergency room. She stood there, with a small frown on her face, as she watched him leave. He was a nice guy, and a part of her was sad to see him go. Now she wanted to know exactly what Jackson had said to him. He had seemed just as confused by Jackson's actions as she was.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the vibrating of her cell phone and she slipped into a nearby supply closet. She pulled the phone out of the pocket of her lab coat and read the caller ID.

She smiled as she answered the call. "Hey Mom!"

Jackson found her in the closet ten minutes later and she mouthed, 'One sec.'

He nodded and reached for her waist, like he couldn't stop himself from touching her. She stepped away from him and he couldn't help but release a sigh. April usually wore her heart on her sleeve, she was usually so easy to read, but since they had started having sex regularly, he was finding it harder and harder to figure her out. He didn't know if that was a consequence of his evolving feelings or if she was purposely distancing herself from him.

It was odd, they had never been closer physically and yet he felt like they were drifting apart in so many other ways.

"Okay, Mom, I have to go now but I'll talk to you later. I love you."

She ended the call and turned to Jackson with a rather guilty expression. He still knew how to read that look. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"Nothing," she replied quickly.

Truthfully, everything was wrong. Her feelings of guilt regarding breaking her promise to Jesus and having pre-marital sex were now renewed in full. She felt completely overwhelmed by guilt as she looked at Jackson out of the corner of her eye. It didn't matter that he was kind and sweet, and beautiful, and had known her for a long time. He still wasn't her husband…would never be her husband…and no matter how good it felt, having sex with him was wrong.

Her mother had called to vent about her baby sister's newest boyfriend. Alice had a tendency to drive her parents crazy with her choices in guys. She had managed to talk her mother down and her response had rocked April to the core.

"_Thank you, sweetie, and I'm so happy that you're saving yourself for marriage, and when you find that perfect man, it'll all be worth it."_

Her mother had no idea that she wasn't a virgin anymore, and after a comment like that, April wasn't about to tell her anytime soon.

Jackson stepped towards April and pulled her bottom lip from between her teeth. "April, what's wrong?" He asked again.

"Nothing," she assured him.

He conceded with a huff and leaned down to kiss her. "Wanna come over again tonight?"

"I'll probably be here until pretty late," she lied.

She was trying to stop this…what they were doing…but she placed her hands on his waist as he kissed her again. His tongue swept along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth wider to give him access. He pushed her lab coat off of her shoulders and she walked backwards until she hit the wall. He pressed the full length of his body against hers and she moaned into his mouth.

It felt _so_ good but it was _so _wrong. But she was powerless to stop it.

She would start fresh again tomorrow. She had willpower, she could say no to sex with Jackson Avery. It wouldn't be that hard.

* * *

**A/N: I want to keep this story canon and I think that this sets up 9x06 pretty well. That's all for this story, stay tuned for more from me!**

**Please leave a review! :)**


	3. Part 3

**A/N: So I'm back with this story lol. This segment takes place during 9x05 and everything is canon except that I switched around the days that the episode spans over. I figured that Jackson is so pissed when his intern screws up that he had to have been in the middle of a little somethin' somethin'. Lol. I don't think that April has ever been to Jackson's apartment but it works for this story.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as usual.**

* * *

Jackson stood just inside the doors of the ICU and stared at April charting at the unit's main nurses' station. She was standing there with most of her weight balanced on one leg. Her wavy, auburn hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she had shed her lab coat. Nothing about her appearance was out of the ordinary and she wasn't doing anything special, but he couldn't stop looking at her, and he felt like he was waging a war with himself. He just needed to walk away, that's what he was trying to convince himself to do. He needed to walk away and not look at her, or talk to her for a little while. It would be good for him. He always felt so weak around her, so powerless. He was a grown ass man; he was supposed to have some willpower. Sadly, however, he did not. He couldn't keep his hands to himself when he was around her and his stomach fluttered like a freakin' preteen girl.

He shuffled his feet and started to angle his body to the left so that he could turn around before he almost reluctantly stared straight ahead once again. He couldn't walk away, he just couldn't, and it was all because of his new feelings for her.

His stupid feelings were getting in the way of everything. He had never had feelings this strong either. They were totally freaking him out. They were changing him and he didn't like it. He had watched her sleep for hours this morning for God's sake. It didn't get much more pathetic than that.

* * *

Earlier that morning…

A small smile played at the edge of Jackson's mouth as he watched April sleep. He had been awake for hours and it was far too early, but somehow he didn't care. He was content to watch the beautiful woman beside him sleep. She was lying on her side with his bed sheets pulled up to her chest and her hair had fallen over her face. He had always imagined that April Kepner would be an incredibly cuddly sleeper but instead she was the exact opposite. She liked her space…or at least she did with him. It was like she had fallen asleep as far away from him as possible.

He was trying to stay away from her, she had started to talk about guilt and Jesus and re-virginizing again, and he was trying to respect that. She wasn't ready for…whatever this was. He was actively trying to stay away from her and yet here they were again, naked in his bed. He just couldn't do it; he couldn't be away from her. He wanted her near him even while she slept.

There was like this pull between them that neither one of them could seem to fight. They were like magnets.

He boldly slung his arm around her waist and tugged her towards him until she was pressed against his chest. She stirred but did not wake. She snuggled into him and he entwined their feet in response. She was so soft and _so _small. He had never really noticed before they had started having sex but she really was small and petite, and yet freakishly strong. He smiled to himself as he placed his hand on her lower back while her nose did that adorable twitching thing. She was so cute, and he just wanted to hold her and never let go. He could stay like this forever…

He inwardly groaned and squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. He needed to stop thinking like that, it was dangerous. Actually, he clearly wasn't thinking at all…at least not with his head. He was thinking with his penis…and his heart, unfortunately.

He looked down at her and whispered to himself. "What are you doing to me?"

He continued to watch her sleep until she began to fidget and her eyelids started to flutter. He wasn't sure what to do so he closed his eyes out of fear of getting caught. How was he supposed to explain himself? Oh, good morning, April, I was just watching you sleep like a creeper. That would definitely go down well.

April slowly opened her eyes and was overwhelmed by the feeling of warmth that surrounded her. At some point during the night, she had done the very first thing that she had told herself not to do before she had fallen asleep; she had wrapped herself around the gorgeous man sharing a bed with her. Their feet were tangled together, their chests were pressed together, and her head was resting near his shoulder.

The last thing that she needed was to get even more attached to him. The last thing that she needed was to get used to _this_.

"Sorry," she murmured groggily as she tried to scoot away from him. She knew that most men hated clingy women and she didn't need another reason to be considered annoying.

He opened his eyes and smiled down at her while his hand tightened on her waist. "It's okay, I don't mind."

"How long have you been awake?" She could tell by the clearness of his eyes that he hadn't just awoken like she had.

"Not long," he lied smoothly.

* * *

Jackson took a deep breath before he finally strode towards her. "Hey."

She looked up at him with a soft smile. "Hi, what's up?"

"I have a skin graft in a little bit," he replied. "Ya know, routine plastics stuff. What about you?"

She tilted her head towards the room behind her. "I'm just checking on this patient and then I have to remove some gall stones in a half hour."

Jackson thrummed his fingers against the tabletop as he bobbed his head. "Cool, cool." He felt so awkward; he wasn't sure what was wrong with him. It was only April. "So, are you on Zola duty today?"

April laughed softly, "I am, from four to five. What about you?"

"Five to six," he grinned. He didn't exactly have much experience in babysitting toddlers but he figured that he could handle the little girl for an hour, and he hoped that Meredith would remember his kindness the next time that he needed a favour. "But after that I'm free," he added casually. Tonight was going to be his first night off in what felt like forever. Since he had started his fellowship he was either working overnight or on-call.

The red-head's brow furrowed slightly. "Free for what?" She instantly blushed and shook her head in embarrassment. That was a stupid question; of course she knew what he was free for. "Um…I…uh," she stuttered.

He interrupted her before he could make her feel any more uncomfortable. "I just meant that we could hang out at my place, maybe watch a movie…if you want to." He didn't want her to think that because their relationship had changed so drastically that it meant that every time he spoke to her, or wanted to spend time with her, it was because he wanted sex. That wasn't the case at all. Not with her, not anymore.

Stupid feelings.

And just because he had all of these feelings didn't mean that he was asking her out on a date. He was asking her to hang out, there was a huge difference. This was definitely not going to be a date. They were _friends_.

Her expression turned into one of slight surprise. "Oh…okay." She smiled as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, we can hang out, sure. I'll bring pizza!"

He laughed at her newfound enthusiasm. "Okay, cool." He shrugged before casually slipping his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "So, I'll see you later?"

April nodded with a smile. "Yup! Later!"

He smiled back at her and she watched him walk away happily.

This was really good progress. Things with Jackson were a lot more difficult than she had initially imagined. It was so hard to stop sleeping with him, no matter how hard she tried or how often she prayed. She blamed him and how annoyingly, frustratingly attractive he was…and that he made her truly feel like a woman for the first time in her life. But this was a good start towards settling back into their former relationship. If they hung out like friends, and didn't have sex, then maybe they could just quit. Cold turkey. They could just go backwards and everything would be fine.

No complications, no hard feelings, and no awkwardness.

Everything would be fine. That's what she was going to tell herself.

* * *

April bounced Zola on her hip as she paced the attendings' lounge. She had learned during previous babysitting experiences with the young Shepherd that she liked being in motion. It was the easiest way to keep her happy.

Per Meredith's instructions, Ross had followed her to the emergency room until she had picked up Zola from Nurse Ted. Then the intern had returned to the OR floor after April assured him that she could handle it. Ross had been a bundle of nervous energy; she had practically needed to list every moment that she had ever spent with Zola before the young man felt like he could leave. Meredith was a little stressed out and it was rubbing off on her interns.

Zola played with the end of the trauma fellow's ponytail while she glanced at the door. Jackson's shift was next and he should be here any minute now. Her surgery had taken longer than she had expected so maybe his was running long too.

"Where do you think Jackson is?" April asked Zola in her high-pitched baby voice.

Before the toddler could babble nonsensically in response, April's phone rang. She desperately hoped that it wasn't her mother calling, she wasn't sure if she could handle that. She couldn't keep lying to her own mother and she couldn't confess to her that she was weak and couldn't stop fornicating with her best friend. The guilt was eating her alive.

She looked at the caller ID and sighed a little in relief. It was Catherine Avery. Her feeling of relief quickly disappeared; it was just as hard to lie to Jackson's mother as it was to her own.

"Hi Dr. Avery!" She answered as cheerily as she could.

"_Hi dear,"_ the urologist replied. _"I have a little bone to pick with you."_

April's eyes widened in horror, her mouth dropped open, and she was thankful that Catherine was in Boston and not standing across from her. Did she _know_? "W-what?" She asked shakily.

"_Dr. Wellman told me that you two are both too busy with work to enter a relationship. Really, honey?"_

She sighed silently. She needed to send Jared Wellman a thank you, or a fruit basket, or something. He had left Seattle under the impression that she and Jackson were a couple and she owed the gynecology fellow for keeping her dirty little secret. "Well, yes, that is true. It's just not a good time right now," she lied. "I need to focus on my fellowship and my Boards, like you said."

Catherine groaned in what sounded like frustration. _"Honey, you have to make time for this, it's important. You're such a catch; you just need to let someone reel you in!" _Catherine paused before she spoke again quietly. _"If you're interested in playing for the other team then you can tell me. There is no judgement here."_

"No! No! That's not it at all!" April retorted quickly. "I am batting for this team!" Her voice had raised several octaves and the change in pitch and volume had startled Zola. The child started to fuss as she continued to play with April's hair. The red-head cooed to her and bounced her in her arms a few more times in order to settle her down.

The urologist laughed, _"Okay, sweetie, I was just checking."_

"This is all very nice of you, Dr. Avery," she said softly. She wasn't sure that 'nice' was actually the appropriate term for Catherine Avery's quest to find her a man, but it was the one that she was going to use. "But I just…uh…need some time to myself right now. I think it'd be good for me. Being alone isn't so bad."

And she believed her own words. She didn't mind not having a boyfriend, at least not right now.

April heard footsteps and she smiled as Jackson finally walked into the lounge. She handed Zola to him and he looked at her curiously. She mouthed that she was on the phone with his mother and he groaned. "Mom! Stop bothering April!" He called out as he settled on the sofa.

"_Is that my baby boy?"_

"Yes," April answered with a chuckle. "He just got out of surgery."

"_Well don't mind him,"_ Catherine dismissed. _"He's just a little protective over you. He thinks of you as a sister."_

April wrinkled her nose in disgust. That statement was so wrong, especially since she could feel Jackson's eyes on her ass. She spun around and playfully kicked his foot. He shrugged in response as he settled Zola on his lap and grinned up at her. She couldn't stop herself from grinning back at him. It was definitely the way that he looked in his scrubs with his bulging muscles and what not.

"_I should introduce you to my nephew,"_ Catherine continued excitedly. _"He's very handsome and he's a cardiologist! He and Jackson are a lot alike; I think you'd like him."_

April tilted her head in interest but ultimately stuttered, "I…uh…I-I d-don't think that's necessary and don't, uh, you don't need to fly him out here."

Catherine chuckled, _"We'll see about that."_

April scratched her head as she envisioned another uncomfortable, impromptu visit from Dr. Avery and a strange man. "I should go now, Dr. Avery. I'm babysitting Zola. Thank you for calling though," she muttered.

"_Get used to it, sweetheart,"_ Catherine laughed melodically.

April ended the call and collapsed on the sofa next to Jackson. The plastics fellow observed his friend's exhausted posture and looked at her sympathetically. "What did she want this time?"

She rested her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes. "To talk about my love life…_again_! She wants to set me up with your cousin."

Jackson furrowed his brow in confusion. "Which one?"

April reopened her eyes and turned her neck so that she could face him. "Um, a cardiologist."

"Kevin," he supplied automatically.

"What's he like?"

Kevin Avery was an awesome guy. He was polite, charming, funny, a successful doctor, and handsome as hell. He had gone to college on a full athletic scholarship; he had been a track star. He now lived in Washington, D.C. and his number one goal was to find a wife and settle down. He was a good guy, he treated women respectfully and he didn't even have one night stands. There wasn't one thing wrong with him and he and Jackson treated each other like brothers, but the thought of him getting anywhere near April left a sour taste in Jackson's mouth.

"He's reckless and a little bit of an idiot," he finally answered. He spoke out of the side of his mouth with a raised eyebrow, "He has a tiny gambling problem."

April's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my gosh! That's awful."

Jackson nodded as he glanced away from her. He was a lying bastard and somehow he didn't feel bad about it, and he felt surprisingly content sitting next to April with a child in his lap.

Stupid feelings.

* * *

April fidgeted with the zipper of her sweater as she patiently waited for Jackson to answer his door. She had put in so much effort into not dressing up, into not looking like she was going on a date, that now she was concerned that she was too underdressed. She was wearing an old pair of blue jeans and a blue tank top under a black, zip-up sweater. Her hair was in loose curls and she wore the faintest touch of makeup. The worst part was that she had put hours of preparation into her looks for this evening. Apparently it took a lot of time, thought, and energy to look like she was just hanging out with a friend.

Unbeknownst to her, Jackson had had a similar struggle. He had stared at two long-sleeved shirts that he had laid out on his bed for forty minutes. Ultimately he had decided to go with the light grey one. It was nice but not too nice. He had also heavily debated cologne vs. no cologne.

They both kept telling themselves that this was not a date, but their nerves would indicate otherwise.

April smiled brightly when Jackson opened the door. "Hi! I brought pizza _and_," she raised her arm and showed off the bag in her hand, "I brought beer. It's our night off so I figured that we could drink. What's the worst that could happen?"

Jackson chuckled as he opened his door wider and watched her enter his apartment. "I dunno, some of those interns are pretty dumb."

She giggled, "That's a terrible thing to say."

He shrugged as he followed her into his living room. "I'm just telling the truth." She set the pizza and beer down on his coffee table while he walked into the kitchen. "You can pick the movie," he called out. "Do you want a plate or a glass, or cutlery?"

"A plate would be good, thanks!" She slowly moved towards his entertainment center and looked through his rather extension DVD collection. She squealed excitedly as her eyes landed on one particular movie. She hadn't seen it in way too long and it was one of her favourites. "Can we watch _Pirates of the Caribbean_?"

Jackson chuckled as he returned to the living room with two plates. "Sure." He really didn't care what they watched, but he would be lying if he didn't admit that the thought had crossed his mind that since they were having sex it would be totally within the boundaries to suggest that they watch porn. But then he remembered that this was April and he was trying to _stop_ having sex with her.

Stupid horny feelings.

He popped the movie into his DVD player and they settled onto his couch. They each grabbed a bottle of beer and a slice of pizza and sat in companionable silence as they focused on the TV.

"So, do you really find Johnny Depp attractive?" Jackson asked curiously as they watched the antics of Jack Sparrow.

She turned to him and retorted wittily, "That's like asking you if you find Halle Berry attractive."

He chuckled after taking a sip from his beer. "Point taken."

April smiled to herself as the movie progressed. See, they could do this, hang out like friends as if San Francisco had never happened. They weren't dating. They weren't friends with benefits. They were just friends, and that's all they would ever be. There was no point in continuing what they were doing or longing for something more, something deeper, because it was never going to happen. They were just having meaningless sex and that was not going to lead to the happy ending that she wanted.

No matter how often thoughts of something more crept into her mind lately.

She removed her sweater before she grabbed another beer. She continued to grin in satisfaction as she drank. Friendship was just as fun…well, maybe not as _fun_ as some other things that they had been doing lately…but it was better, for the both of them. It was healthier.

However, her smugness quickly deteriorated as they neared the end of the movie. His proximity was becoming too much for her. His warmth. His smell. She could sense the presence of his arm on the back of the sofa behind her head and it was driving her nuts. The alcohol in her system probably wasn't helping matters either. She was thinking very bad things.

She decided to take her mind off of him by getting another slice of pizza. But, getting to the pizza box required reaching across Jackson's lap. He cleared his throat and shifted beneath her when she brushed his leg and she muttered an apology. He swept her hair to one side and his hand settled on the back of her neck. She shivered and dropped the piece of pizza that she was holding back onto the box. She glanced up at him and saw that his eyes were dark, and glued to her cleavage.

She bit her bottom lip in contemplation before she placed a hand on his thigh and pressed her mouth roughly against his. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and groaned due to her frenzied movements. She should have known that this was inevitable, they hadn't been able to do much more than this recently, and she had been warned that guys never really wanted to watch the movie.

Jackson grasped both of her thighs and eagerly pulled her into his lap. He whipped her tank top over her head before he placed his mouth on her neck. "You should burn that," he murmured against her skin.

"Why?" She asked in confusion. "I like that tank top."

"I know you do," he answered with a grin, "but every time you wear it I want to rip it off you."

She giggled as she removed his shirt. It made her hot and bothered when he said things like that, when he got a little animalistic. That's probably the reason why she had been turned on by his jealousy and possessiveness when Jared Wellman had been in town.

She ran her hands over his well-muscled torso as he worked on opening her belt while dipping his tongue along the edge of her bra. She moaned softly and it turned into a squeal when he flipped her and pinned her to the sofa cushions. He chuckled huskily and she laughed along with him. She was so carefree when she was with him like this. Something about it felt so right and that's why it was so hard to deny.

April slipped her tongue into his mouth and kissed him hungrily as her small hand slipped down into the front of his jeans. He grunted and bucked his hips against her. Her warm, soft hand was wrapped around his erect shaft.

"April," he panted, "That's not fair."

She merely smiled up at him mischievously and it made him want her even more. He returned to kissing her while pushing her jeans down over her hips so that he could return the favour. He maneuvered his hand into her panties and inserted two fingers inside of her. She gasped and clutched his bicep with her free hand. He grinned arrogantly and pressed his forehead against hers.

She laughed breathlessly, "If you're trying to make this a contest then you're going to lose."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Using his teeth, he plucked at one of her nipples through the fabric of her bra. Playing with her breast was a sure fire way to get her going. She moaned loudly but had the presence of mind to rake her nails down his side. She knew that that drove him wild.

Jackson pressed his thumb against her bundle of nerves and she squirmed deliciously beneath him. He guided his mouth back to hers and spoke against her lips after giving her a kiss. "Throwing out the white flag, Kepner?"

She nodded repeatedly and so he slowly removed his hand from her underwear to end her torture.

Before he could make another move, he had flown off of the couch and had landed on his floor with a 'thud'. He peered up at the woman straddling his waist in shock.

"I kinda lied," she told him with a devilish smile as she placed both of her hands on his chest.

Jackson grinned back at her. She never ceased to amaze him. "Touché, touché."

She lowered her head down to kiss him and he tangled both of his hands in her hair as he completely lost himself in her.

Only minutes later, they were interrupted by a loud beeping coming from the direction of his bedroom.

"Is that your pager?" She asked as she peppered kisses along his jaw.

"Yes!" He groaned loudly. As he had predicted, his intern was useless.

"But we were just about to get to the good part," she whispered in a thick voice.

One of his hands grasped her waist and he groaned loudly again. "Don't remind me," he muttered in frustration.

This intern was definitely on his shit list. The kid was never scrubbing in on one of his surgeries, _ever_. He reluctantly got up off of the floor and grabbed his shirt. He dashed into his bedroom and grabbed his pager and cell phone; he would call on his way to the hospital to see what the problem was. He moved towards his front door, and slipped on his shoes and grabbed his jacket as he watched April pull her jeans back up and reach for her discarded tank top.

"Just stay here and relax," he instructed. "I'll be back ASAP."

"I can just leave," she replied tentatively.

He strode back into the living room and kissed her passionately. "No," he hummed. He definitely wanted to finish what they started. "I want you to stay."

"Okay," she whispered softly before he ran out his front door.

* * *

Jackson re-entered his apartment and slammed the door shut behind him. "What an idiot!" He bellowed. "I didn't even think that it was possible to be that stupid," he ranted as he angrily tossed his jacket aside. He kicked off his shoes before heading towards his bedroom. "I left an infected wound open to heal and he closed it! Like seriously, who even—"

He abruptly stopped talking when he reached his doorway and took in the sight before him. April was sitting on his bed with a pillow in her lap and it was readily apparent that she was totally naked.

The red-head smiled shyly as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I figured that you'd be riled up and might need to be calmed down."

Being alone in his apartment, for however brief it had been, had given her time to herself to think. She had reflected on the guilt and the shame and the disappointment and yet, surprising him like this had still emerged as her preferred course of action. She knew Jackson better than anyone else and so she knew how frustrated he would be when he returned from the hospital and what it would take to get his mind off of it.

Also, he was hot when he was mad.

There was something very _very _wrong with her. She was convinced that she was becoming a sex addict.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed in annoyance. "I really hate interns."

April dropped the pillow onto the bedroom floor and beckoned him forward. "Come here."

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. She had such an unbelievable body. Soft, pale skin. Toned legs. That cute dimple that appeared when she laughed. There were also her more obvious assets. She knew that his favourite physical features were her breasts and her hair. He made his favouritism pretty obvious. He quickly tugged his shirt over his head and pulled off his socks before he climbed onto his bed and hovered above her. "This is really sexy," he gritted out in a deep, low voice.

It was probably even sexier than her showing up on his doorstep in lingerie and heels.

She blushed and wrapped her arms around his lower back. She kissed him softly before she grinned, "I'll even let you win this time."

* * *

**A/N: Please leave a review! :)**

**I think that I'm going to do one more chapter!**


	4. Part 4

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad that this story is being so well received. Enjoy the update! :)**

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

* * *

Jackson pushed April up against the closed on-call room door and grinned at her slightly startled reaction. He still found her innocence to be rather cute. She was an interesting mix of contradictions, confident yet insecure, timid yet bossy, inexperienced yet she seemed to know exactly what to do to drive him wild. It was certainly one of the things that made her so fascinating to him.

He tangled both of his hands in her hair and hungrily pressed his mouth against hers. She responded by slipping her hands underneath his scrub top and placing them flat against his lower back. She moaned and he coaxed her head to the side to deepen the kiss. He brushed his tongue along her bottom lip and she quickly let him inside. He then dropped his hands to the collar of her lab coat and started to push the material off of her shoulders.

"Oh, I have so many post-ops to check on," April muttered against his lips.

He chuckled, "That's what interns are for."

April grinned as she plucked on the waistband of his pants. "Look at you. You sound like a scary attending," she teased.

His expression mirrored hers as he pressed her more firmly against the door. "I am a scary attending," he replied playfully.

She laughed lightly before she kissed him again. Jackson certainly _wasn't_ a scary attending but it was kind of cute that he thought of himself that way. He wanted to be respected for his skill, not his name, and he didn't want to be treated differently because of his looks, so he thought of himself as a scary attending. He was trying to be more like Mark Sloan and she found that both admirable and sad.

"Do they call you that? I already know what they call me," she commented casually.

Jackson pulled away and looked down at her in concern. He didn't miss the dejected tone in her voice.

"They call me the dud," she continued.

He frowned, "You don't know that."

She tilted her head and smiled sadly. "Yeah, I do. I overheard them once." She shrugged, "And I guess they're right. I'm the only attending that hasn't passed their Boards." She slipped out of his hold and moved to sit on the cot bed against the opposite wall.

Jackson sighed as he slowly spun around. He hated to see her doubt herself like this, and the Boards were still a sore spot for him. He still felt some responsibility for her failing so it was not something that he liked to talk about, or even think about really.

But then again, there were a lot of things that he didn't like to talk about. He knew that it was terrible, but lately, he preferred being with April over talking to April. However, it made him feel less guilty knowing that she most likely felt the same way.

"That doesn't mean that you're not a good surgeon, or a good teacher," he told her supportively.

April leaned back on her elbows and kicked off her sneakers. "You have to say that because you're sleeping with me."

He would have been worried about her statement if she hadn't of said it with a small, sexy grin. "No, I don't," he responded as he advanced towards her. "I have to say things like 'you look really good in those scrubs' because I'm sleeping with you." He smiled teasingly and laughed when she gently kicked him in the thigh. He caught her foot and slowly lowered himself down onto his knees in front of her. "Which you do, by the way."

"Shut up," she giggled.

He laughed along with her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into her. He slipped his hands underneath her underwear and started to slide them down her legs, along with her scrub pants.

April couldn't help but scold herself internally. So they were doing this…_again_. They had fallen into this vicious cycle of sex…_again_. Why couldn't they stop? It was like they couldn't even be alone for five minutes anymore without taking their clothes off. They were like two horny teenagers.

They had a very powerful spark, a connection that had sprung up out of years of friendship. It was a serious problem because their relationship had been so much simpler when they had been friends. They had been able to be one hundred percent honest with each other when they had been friends, and that wasn't the case anymore. They were hiding things from each other now and they both knew it.

She placed a hand on his chest and began to push him away. "Wait," she mumbled as she tore her mouth away from his.

"What is it?" He questioned in concern.

He looked up at her through his eyelashes and she practically melted under his smouldering gaze. Those stupid eyes! "Nothing, never mind," she whispered. She kissed him eagerly and pulled him up on the bed with her.

He tried his best to pretend that she was just thinking about her post-ops but he was very certain that wasn't the case. She wasn't thinking about her post-ops, or interns, or her patients. She was probably thinking about Jesus and pre-marital sex, and about how wrong this was. He was ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, but it was difficult. He just wanted it to be about them, and he didn't think that that was too much to ask.

He pressed his forehead against hers and brushed their noses together. He exhaled heavily before he spoke. "Don't think about anything else," he commanded in a whisper. "It's just me and you."

She shivered at his words as she wrapped her arms around him so that her biceps were melded against his triceps and her hands were gripping his shoulders. "I know," she answered with a small smile.

Jackson let a grin take over his face before he kissed her again.

They slowly rid each other of their clothing, slipped under the thin bed sheet, and he tenderly pushed inside of her after applying a condom. She gasped and he brushed her hair out of her face as they both adjusted to the new position. She looked up at him and the sheer intensity of his gaze caused a shiver to run down her spine. She had never seen him look at her like that, and she couldn't help but wonder if he had looked at her like that before and she had just never noticed.

And if that was true then what did it mean? What did that look mean?

She moved one of her hands to cup his jaw. She kissed him softly while her thumb stroked his cheek. Something important was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't say it, not when she knew that this was just sex to him.

But the way that he looked at her…

She rid those thoughts from her head and hitched her legs up around his waist.

He grunted and nipped at her bottom lip as he slid deeper inside of her. The way that she was moving her hands over him was different; he just couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different about it. The sense of urgency and impatience that usually surrounded them wasn't present this time.

This was more intimate. It was more…romantic, which he really liked. It allowed him to express how he felt about her without actually saying anything.

She moaned and pressed her mouth against his neck and he smiled smugly. She shakily breathed his name and it was desperate, wanton…needy.

Maybe she felt the same way that he did?

He squeezed his eyes shut and set his jaw. He couldn't think like that. It would only lead to a lot of hurt and pain. He wouldn't allow himself to go down that road.

So he decided to focus on the sex, not anything else.

And it turned into the best sex that they had ever had.

"Wow," April breathed as she closed her eyes and savoured the feeling spreading throughout her body.

Jackson only had the energy to grunt in agreement. "Yeah," he eventually replied as he stared up at the ceiling. He lazily rolled over onto his side and started to pepper kisses along her shoulders. He didn't want to push his luck but he only had one thing on his mind. He wanted to do that again. "How much time do you have left?"

April giggled as she rolled over to face him. She entwined her feet with his as she leaned forward to kiss him. She wanted to stop having sex with him but she needed to feel that way again, and soon. "Later," she promised.

He slipped a hand into her hair to keep her in place. He hungrily claimed her mouth before he finally responded. "Now," he tried to bargain.

She continued to laugh as she slipped out of his grasp and out of the bed. "We have jobs, ya know?"

Jackson grinned playfully. "Really? I never noticed." He sat up and ran a hand over his head as he exhaled heavily. "I do have to talk to you about something though."

She spun around to face him after pulling on her underwear and she could identify a nervous feeling in her stomach. "About what?" She asked shakily.

He opened his mouth but swallowed harshly as his eyes drifted over her. It would probably be a lot easier for him to form words if she was wearing her scrubs. Her pale pink panties and white bra were not helping his concentration at all. He had always considered April to be pretty, she had a smile that lit up a room, but he had never imagined that she was so scorching hot. The creamy skin. The freckles. The boobs. It was all very distracting.

She sat back down on the bed and he placed a hand on her smooth thigh. He fixatedly stared at his thumb as it brushed back and forth along her skin.

She cleared her throat and asked again. "What do you want to talk about?"

Jackson chuckled as he shook himself out of his stupor. "Right." He raised his head to look her in the eye. "My mother is flying in today and she wants to get a drink later, maybe go out to dinner. She asked if you could come but you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable. I could make up an excuse for you."

April nervously chewed on her bottom lip as she considered his proposition. She was wary about spending time around Catherine Avery, she was afraid that the perceptive woman would detect that she and Jackson were sleeping together. She was not okay with the barrage of questions that that revelation would bring. Questions that she wasn't ready to ask herself yet. But on the other hand, the urologist would be suspicious if she didn't show up, and that might be even worse.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Jackson pulled her bottom lip out from between her teeth. "Be careful," he murmured huskily, "I'm pretty fond of those lips."

April blushed and started to laugh but was interrupted when Jackson pressed his mouth against hers. She moaned in approval and grasped his shoulders. Her short fingernails dug into his skin and it caused his hands to fly to her small waist. He tugged her into his lap and she could feel his erection against her center.

"Jackson," she groaned as he nipped at her collarbone. "We can't."

"Why not?" He retorted petulantly.

"Patients. Post-ops," she protested. "Charts." She kissed him firmly on the mouth before she extracted herself from his grasp.

He fell back onto the bed with a chuckle and watched her pull her scrubs back on. "Okay, okay, fine." After a few minutes, he got off of the bed and started to redress as well. "So," he began hesitantly, "what will I tell my mother?"

"I can meet you guys for a drink or dinner, whatever," she smiled. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Jackson nodded and his eyes followed her as she left the room. He used to be able to read his best friend like a book and now it was like she had everything under lock and key. He had no idea what she was thinking anymore, and he wanted to know now more than ever.

* * *

"Baby!"

Jackson rolled his eyes but a small smile played at the corner of his mouth as he spun around to face his overexcited mother. "Hi Mom," he greeted as he slipped his pen into the breast pocket of his lab coat.

He continued to smile at her, but he was a little surprised to see Ryan, the penis transplant patient from a year ago, and his older brother. He was surprised until he remembered that the whole reason that his mother was in town, besides Webber, was due to a cross-country lecture series that she was doing. Ryan Adams was the star of the series.

"You look exhausted," Catherine commented as she stepped up to him. "Is that girlfriend of yours keeping you up?"

Jackson ignored her and turned to the two men. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

Ryan smiled brightly. "Great. It's good to see you again, Dr. Avery."

Chad grinned in agreement. "Everything is great, Ryan here has…" He trailed off as he stared at something over Jackson's shoulder. He tilted his head and his eyes widened slightly as he dramatically exhaled. It was very obvious that he was checking somebody out.

The red-head that was passing through with a chart in her hand was _hot_.

"Sorry, he gets easily distracted," Ryan chuckled.

Jackson smirked and didn't even bother to turn around. There were a lot of attractive women that worked at this hospital. He could be looking at anybody.

So he had no idea that the woman that Chad was checking out was April.

However, Catherine noticed, and her eyes twinkled mischievously. She hadn't even planned this but it definitely had potential.

It had taken her a little while to realize that she had gone about setting April up entirely wrong. She had picked a nice boy, but one that was too much like April. She needed someone that was the opposite of her. She needed a challenge, and Catherine had spent enough time with the Adams boys to know that Chad was both a challenge and a catch. He was startlingly smart and wealthy, outgoing, and a real adrenaline junkie.

She smiled to herself as her son conversed with the two men in front of him. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to have to work very hard to put her plan into motion either. Chad was a lot less shy than Jared Wellman; if he found April attractive then he would most likely do something about it.

* * *

Chad grinned and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he sidled up to the red-head that he had been ogling earlier. "Excuse me? Doctor? Can you tell me where the cafeteria is?"

April raised her head and opened her mouth to speak, but her words got caught in her throat as recognition dawned on her. She pointed her pen at him and smiled. "Hey, you're the brother of Dr. Avery's penis transplant patient?"

Chad's brow furrowed in confusion. "You worked on my brother's case?" The doctors from Seattle that had worked with his brother had been Dr. Avery, Dr. Sloan, and Dr. Grey. "I think that I would remember someone who looks like you."

She blushed and looked down at her feet while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was in the operating room," she explained.

"Oh," he smiled happily. "Cool, and thanks for that. My brother is doing great."

"That's awesome!" She continued to stare at him with a smile until she remembered why he was talking to her in the first place. "Um, right, the cafeteria!" She pointed to the hallway behind her as she spoke. "So you walk down this hallway, and—"

The man standing across from her interrupted her with a laugh. "I don't actually want to know where the cafeteria is. I just needed a reasonable excuse to talk to you."

"Oh." April wasn't quite sure what to say about that. This kind of thing didn't happen to her very often. She wasn't the kind of girl that guys noticed. She wasn't very used to being wanted. Jackson was different, he had known her for years; he had gotten used to her. But this guy didn't even know her and yet he was interested in her. "So, uh, I'm assuming that you're here with your brother for Dr. Avery's lecture?"

He nodded. "Yup, for support, ya know? I live in Seattle now, moved here a few months ago, and I'm going to show Ryan around the city. We didn't exactly get a chance to see the sights last time. Are you going to the lecture?" He questioned after a moment.

"Uhh, I think so. I have a surgery so it depends on whether or not it runs long."

"Well, I'll save you a seat," he grinned as he slowly backed away. "Dr…?"

"Kepner," she supplied. "Uh, April actually." She giggled after her rather awkward blunder and extended her hand. "I'm April Kepner."

Chad grinned as he shook her hand. Holy shit she was cute. "Nice to meet you. I'm Chad Adams."

"Nice to meet you too," she responded.

* * *

After scrubbing out of surgery, April made her way to the lecture hall that they used for grand rounds. There were very few seats left and residents were still filing in. She could see the excitement written over all of the interns' faces and it brought her back to when she had first met Catherine Avery. She had been an overexcited intern as well.

It seemed like so long ago. She was a completely different person now. She wasn't the same shy, innocent virgin anymore.

She glanced up when she heard her name being called. It was Meredith who had spoken and she was sitting with Alex and Jackson.

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you gonna sit down?" Alex called in annoyance.

"I think I'm going to get closer," she replied.

Jackson watched her descend the steps in confusion.

"Why wouldn't she wanna sit next to you so that you two can secretly grope each other throughout this entire thing?" Alex questioned in his usual snarky manner.

"Just shut up Karev," Jackson responded in exasperation.

The pediatric surgeon's eyes shot up into his hairline. "Someone's a little touchy." His friend's eyes had narrowed so he followed his eye line. Avery was watching Kepner take a seat next to some guy and he obviously wasn't happy about it. Avery was so transparent and Alex couldn't help but scoff. "Dude, put a ring on it."

Jackson turned to him in confusion. "What did you just say?"

Alex ignored the question and trudged forward. "You get insanely jealous every time another guy so much as looks at her so just get on with it. Lock it up. Call her your girlfriend or whatever."

"Or just stop acting like an animal," Meredith added with a smirk.

"She's not my girlfriend," he muttered childishly.

Alex and Meredith rolled their eyes in unison. That was the only thing he had to say? He was more screwed than either of them had previously realized.

* * *

"Okay, so no more men," Jackson sternly warned his mother before he opened the door to the restaurant for her.

The elder Avery had informed him that they weren't just having dinner with April; they were having dinner with Ryan and Chad as well. Therefore, she had picked a nice restaurant that was famous for its cheesecake and house band. His day had gone progressively downhill since his mother's lecture and therefore, the very last thing that he needed was for her to send some stranger a drink and say that it was from April. She had played that card before. He just wanted to get through this dinner without any major incidents and take April home.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "You take the fun out of everything, baby." She really didn't think that April needed her meddling superpowers this time around however. She was sitting at the bar with Ryan and Chad, and she was engrossed in conversation. She turned to her son with a grin. "Looks like she doesn't need my help."

Jackson narrowed his eyes as he walked behind his mother toward the bar. He hated his jealous streak but he couldn't help it. April looked gorgeous, her hair was down and curled, and she was wearing a black, knee-length dress with spaghetti straps. He had never seen the dress before and he seemed to like it just as much as Chad Adams. The guy's eyes were on the red-head's legs and Jackson knew exactly what he was thinking because he was thinking the same thing.

"Is our table ready?" Catherine asked with a smile.

Ryan nodded. "Yes, we were just waiting for you two."

They were shown to their table and Catherine promptly ordered a bottle wine. They started to peruse their menus but it wasn't long before the uncomfortable conversation began.

"So, my son has a girlfriend that he won't tell me a thing about."

Ryan and Chad chuckled while Jackson groaned in frustration. "Mom," he began in a warning tone.

"He keeps me completely in the dark," the urologist continued without hesitation. "Won't even grant me this simple pleasure. Are you two close to your mother?"

"Very," Chad answered. "I tell my mother everything; it's kind of embarrassing actually."

"I think that's sweet," April commented softly.

Catherine turned her head towards her son expectantly. "Well?"

"She's not my girlfriend," he answered. "We're just—"

His mother cut him off. "Fooling around?" She questioned in disapproval.

Jackson nodded affirmatively as he stared at his menu without actually reading the words on the page. "It's not something worth talking about," he grumbled.

April winced behind her menu. That comment had hurt. She told herself that it wasn't really about her but she still felt tears prick the back of her eyes. She quietly excused herself from the group and fled to the bathroom.

She locked herself in a stall and grabbed a few sheets of toilet paper to stop her tears. They were keeping their relationship a secret, she didn't want his mother to know, but still, she replayed his words in her head and she heard them differently.

She wasn't worth talking about. That's what he had really meant, and he had sounded so angry. So resentful. A part of her had started to believe that things were changing between them, for the better. This morning in the on-call room had been so amazing and wonderful, but obviously it hadn't been any different for him.

After a quick pep talk, she stepped out of the stall and walked to the sink. She jumped when she noticed Jackson out of the corner of her eye. He was casually leaning against the door in his suit and he looked like a freakin' model.

"What are you doing here?"

He ignored her question and stalked towards her as he whispered, "How come I've never seen that dress before?"

"I haven't gotten a chance to wear it anywhere," she shrugged.

"It looks really good on you," he complimented.

The look on his face was not unfamiliar to her and the way that he was standing directly in front of her made it very clear what he wanted. She couldn't believe him! "What are you doing?" She asked in frustration.

"My mother is distracted by her guests so I said that I had to use the bathroom. I figured we could…" He trailed off suggestively as both of his hands caressed her upper arms.

She laughed humourlessly and forcefully pushed him away from her. "You are such a sleaze."

He scoffed and held his hands out in front of him. "I am not," he protested. She didn't respond so he quickly spoke again. "Are you enjoying the attention?" He sneered.

Her back stiffened as her hand landed on the bathroom doorknob. "Excuse me?"

"From Chad Adams," he elaborated. "Are you enjoying the attention?" The guy was all over her and they had barely been in the restaurant for twenty minutes, and he had watched them carefully during his mother's lecture. He knew what was going on. "He won't be long running for the hills when he realizes how high-strung and neurotic you are."

He knew that his comment was cruel but it had just rushed out. He was jealous, tired, and annoyed, and he was going for the kill shot. She turned to face him and the hurt was clearly written all over her face. He instantly felt like the world's biggest jerk and he wished that he could take this whole thing back.

"Jesus April, I'm sorry."

"Forget about it," she replied quickly before she flung the door open and left the bathroom.

He groaned loudly and kicked the trash can in the corner out of frustration.

* * *

Catherine was incredibly pleased by how well dinner went. She loved hearing about Ryan's life and April and Chad seemed to be hitting it off. On the down side, she could tell that something was bothering her son but she knew that it would be best to ask him about it later rather than sooner. They were now in the middle of dessert and Ryan had slipped away to place a call to his girlfriend.

In an effort to cheer her son up, Catherine made a harmless suggestion. "Jackson, why don't you dance with April?"

"You know that I don't dance," he answered irritably.

April subtly rolled her eyes. Sure, he would have sex with her but he wouldn't dance with her.

Chad grinned as he hopped to his feet and looked down at April. "What kind of guy _doesn't _want to dance with a beautiful woman?" He extended his hand with a broad smile. "Dance with me?"

She smiled softly and nodded as she placed her hand in his. Well at least someone wanted to dance with her.

Jackson finished his drink and gritted his teeth as he watched the guy lead April to the dance floor. He could feel a tension spread throughout his entire body so he stretched his neck.

His mother thought that his change in demeanour was due to her earlier line of questioning, so she placed a hand on his knee. "I'm sorry, baby," she apologized. "I said that I would stay out of your business so I should keep that promise."

"Thanks," he muttered.

He fell silent and his mother returned to her dessert as he focused his attention on the dance floor. Chad's mouth was close to April's ear and she was laughing at whatever he was saying. His hand was resting low on her back, so low that his fingertips were almost grazing the top of her butt. It made Jackson's blood boil.

After a great deal of thought, he turned to his mother and began to speak. "The woman that I'm seeing…she's incredible. She's kind and intelligent, and beautiful, and I like her a lot."

Catherine rested her head in the palm of her hand and smiled uncontrollably. Her son hadn't opened up to her like this in a very long time. "Anything else you wanna tell me?"

He slowly shook his head. "No, not yet."

* * *

Chad walked her to her door like a gentleman and she couldn't help but wish that he was someone else. Her thoughts and feelings were so jumbled and she just wished that things were easier. She felt a spark with Chad that she hadn't with Jared Wellman, and he was cute, charming, and a great dancer.

But…

"Tonight was fun," he stated.

April nodded with a smile as she opened her purse to look for her keys. "I had a really nice time."

"There's no chance that we can do it some other time, just the two of us, is there?" He asked tentatively. She was great, and she seemed to like him, but he had been sensing some hesitation all evening.

She raised her head to look at him and she had a small frown on her face. Before she had the chance to say anything, he gently cupped her face and brought her lips to his. He kissed her gently, capturing her top lip between his own before he innocently ran his tongue along her bottom lip.

He pulled away slowly but kept one hand on her face. "That was really nice," she breathed.

"But it's not going to happen again, is it?" He asked regretfully.

"I'm sorry," she instantly apologized. "It's just that there's…"

"Someone else?"

She nodded and sighed. "Yeah, there's someone else."

He chuckled, but there was really nothing funny about the situation. "I figured. I just didn't want to ask."

She apologized again. "Sorry, you're just fun and easy to talk to you."

He nodded in understanding and smiled at her. "I get it; you're easy to talk to as well and really sweet, and really hot." He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his business cards. "And if that someone else disappears, please give me a call."

She accepted his card with a smile. "Thanks Chad."

"No problem. I hope to see you around, April."

She waved to him as he slowly walked back to his car. A part of her felt a large amount of regret at having to watch him walk away. She quickly dismissed her thoughts as she entered her apartment. She figured that it was just the possibility of something new and fresh that was bothering her. She didn't even know the guy, and he didn't know her so it wasn't as if either of them would have trouble forgetting about the other.

And Jackson had been a huge ass tonight. That probably made it harder for her to watch such a nice guy walk away from her.

She groaned in frustration as she reflected on Jackson's words and actions from earlier in the evening. He just didn't care about her, and about them, at least not in the way that she wanted him too. She was still just his friend, nerdy, annoying April Kepner, and that would never change. She was having sex with a man that would never love her and that was the absolute worst thing that she could do.

She changed into her pajamas, pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, and had just finished washing her face and brushing her teeth when her doorbell rang. She pulled on her robe and loosely tied the belt around her waist as she walked towards the door.

She knew who was on the other side before she even touched the doorknob.

"Hey Jackson," she greeted tiredly. He stepped into her home without even asking first and it made her explicably more annoyed. "What do you want? I was just about to go to bed."

"I just came over to…I wanted…I know that I…" He ran a hand over his scalp in frustration. He would consider himself to be a pretty eloquent guy and he was very good with women, but put him in a situation where he had to tell a woman what he was thinking and how he was feeling and he turned into a mess. He just couldn't end the night knowing that April was mad at him. "I didn't exactly think before I spoke tonight," he admitted, "and I'm sorry."

"Let's just get one thing straight," she responded firmly. "I am _not_ your possession."

He nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I—"

She interrupted him angrily. "And I am _not _some rag doll that you can toss aside when you're done with me!"

"I know that!" He shouted indignantly. "And you're not…I'm not…I don't think of you that way." He stepped towards her and she took a reflexive step backwards. "I really don't," he whispered adamantly. He threaded two fingers through the belt on her robe and tugged her towards him. "I'm sorry." He wasn't sure what else he could say so he dipped his head and placed a kiss below her ear. He trailed kisses down the column of her neck until he reached her shoulder. "Let me stay the night?"

She raised her hands to push him away but they merely rested on his chest. "You're so frustrating," she murmured.

"Yeah, well," he smiled, "so are you."

She smiled against her will as she locked her front door before linking their hands together.

She looked up at him guiltily and he instantly became concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?"

She exhaled heavily and her shoulders slumped with the movement. "I am so exhausted."

"Okay," he replied slowly. He wasn't sure why she looked so troubled if she was just tired. She had been busy all day and then they had gone out to dinner. She had every right to be tired.

"So is it okay if we don't have sex?" She asked him awkwardly.

He barked out a laugh but quickly became serious again when he observed her startled expression. "Of course that's okay." He kissed her forehead affectionately. "Come on, I can give you a massage."

* * *

**A/N: Aren't they the most frustrating pair? lol. Please leave a review! :)**


	5. Part 5

**A/N: I've really enjoyed writing this story and the response has been overwhelming. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope that you enjoy this last installment. I will warn you though, I told you from the beginning that this story was canon. Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the lines in this chapter taken from 9x06 - "Second Opinion".**

* * *

Jackson lay on his back, remaining as still as he possibly could, as he looked at April out of the corner of his eye. She was curled up with her back facing him and he knew that she wasn't asleep, despite the fact that she was clearly trying to make him think that.

After quite the internal debate, Jackson turned over onto his side with his body only inches away from hers. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of pajama pants and he found it hard not to touch her. "I know that you're awake, April," he whispered. "What's wrong?"

He had given her a very lengthy neck and back massage, and he would have thought that it would have relaxed her enough to let her sleep, but obviously not.

"I have a lot on my mind I guess," she finally answered. He shifted to spoon her from behind but she instantly moved away from him. "Can you give me my space, please?" She asked in irritation.

His eyes widened but he did as she asked. "Sorry." He took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Are you still mad at me? Because that's okay. I was a real ass."

She answered him honestly, "Yeah, I am still mad at you." Despite how sweet he had been since he had shown up at her apartment, she still couldn't stop thinking about why he would say such awful things in the first place. "It's just that you're the only guy that I've ever had in my life who has never made me feel absolutely horrible about myself and tonight you did, and it just hurts." She roughly bit down on her bottom lip to hold back impending tears. "It just might take me a little while to get over it."

Jackson squeezed his eyes shut in frustration while he internally scolded himself. Even though she had snapped at him earlier for being so close, he couldn't stop himself from wrapping both of his arms around her. He needed to comfort her and apologize at the same time. "I am so _so _sorry," he whispered as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I didn't really mean it. I was just pissed off."

She rolled over onto her back so that she could look at him before she expressed her next thoughts. "I know that but I don't understand why. Why do you get so jealous?"

He gulped and glanced down at the bed sheets as her eyes bore into his. That was a tricky question. He was a jealous guy, that was true, and it should have been explanation enough, but it was different with April and they both knew it. She had been a virgin and he was the only man that had ever touched her so intimately. That did something primal to him that sent him into a fit of irrational rage whenever another guy was around her. Also, there was the fact that he was pretty sure that he was…

He gulped again as the thought passed through his head.

…He was in love with her…maybe…

He wasn't sure if he was ready to admit that to himself but he was pretty sure that that's what this was…the feelings…the intense jealousy…

He was in love with April Kepner.

But he couldn't tell her that. He just couldn't. It would ruin what they had.

"You don't see yourself the way that other people see you," he finally responded.

She furrowed her brow in confusion and sighed in frustration. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He smiled to himself as he rubbed his thumb into her hip. He couldn't help but find her cute, even in this situation. "I mean, that you don't get the way that _men_ see you and I don't want guys to take advantage of that."

And that was a truthful response. He had always felt that way about April; he had always been protective of her, especially when it came to men. He had never wanted to see guys take advantage of her good heart and fairly low self-esteem. She didn't realize what a beautiful person she was, inside and out.

He lowered his head and gently nuzzled her cheek. "You're beautiful, April." He smiled when he felt the heat in her cheeks against his nose. "You really are. It's hard not to get jealous sometimes."

Her anger towards him was slowly dissipating again. He was so sweet to her when he wasn't being an ass. That thought made her laugh out loud but she quickly covered her mouth with her hand to contain her giggles.

"What are you laughing at?" He asked as he chuckled himself.

She answered him truthfully with a playful smile. "I was thinking about how much of an ass you are."

He grinned as his hand slipped up her abdomen to tickle her stomach. She squealed and his grin widened even further. Her laughter died when he pressed his mouth to hers. He kissed her a few times before he muttered, "I really am sorry though, truly. I won't ever act that way again."

She smiled happily as both of her hands moved to cup his face. "Thank you." She paused before she added, "Even though sometimes it's really hot. Everything in moderation."

He smirked down at her and seductively ran his tongue along his bottom lip. "Hot, huh?"

She rolled her eyes and stressed, "_Sometimes_. Don't let your head get any bigger."

He chuckled huskily as a devilish expression took over his face. He thrust his hips against the side of her thigh as he said, "I'm not sure that's possible."

She shifted until she was directly beneath him, and she could fully feel his arousal against her. "You're terrible."

"I don't believe you really think that," he replied as he savoured the feeling of her thighs cradling his hips. He positioned his hands on either side of her head and held his upper body above hers. "You think I'm awesome."

She laughed breathlessly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You're cuter when you don't talk."

His laugh was cut off when she kissed him hungrily.

Their foreplay was intense, and rather rough. He could feel the scratch marks that her fingernails had left on his back and sides, and once he had removed her tank top, he wasted no time in leaving tiny bite marks and hickeys along her chest. Her bed sheets were a tangled mess around them and he just knew that the sex was going to be fantastic, as per usual.

April pulled away with a gasp and he looked down at her in concern. "What's wrong?"

"I don't have any condoms here," she told him regretfully.

"Oh," he answered dumbly. Well that sucked. He flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," she apologized timidly. "I should have thought of it earlier, sorry."

"It's fine, stop apologizing." He turned his head and smiled at her. "It's not a big deal, _really_."

April adjusted the bed sheet underneath her armpits before she rolled over to face him. "Now I just feel bad though, for getting you all worked up." The large bulge in his boxer briefs wasn't exactly easy to ignore.

Jackson chuckled, even though she was new to all of this, the sentiment behind her statement was so April. She felt bad for his uncomfortable inconvenience. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "If it makes you feel better then I'll go take a quick shower."

She grabbed his arm before he could get up and pulled him back down to the mattress. "Wait," she whispered. "We don't have to have sex but I'm sure we can think of something."

"Yeah?" She bit down on her bottom lip and gave him a look that he was very familiar with. He smirked and entwined his feet with hers. His hand snaked between her legs while they kissed slowly.

Yeah, he was pretty sure that he was in love with this girl.

* * *

April awoke, alone. She opened her eyes and was concerned about the empty space beside her. Maybe he had snuck out, bailed, or something. After all, he had never stayed over at her place before. She tried not to let disappointment overwhelm her as she slipped out of bed and pulled on her bathrobe.

She padded to the bathroom and used the washroom before she stared at herself in the mirror. Except for the marks on her collarbone, she looked exactly the same, yet she felt very different. But she wasn't quite sure why she felt different. She knew that it had to do with Jackson, all of her emotions these days had something to do with him.

She just felt weighted down. Tired and heavy.

Maybe it was a sign that she needed to commit to the decision that she had made a long time ago. She needed to end whatever it was that she was doing with Jackson. This arrangement wasn't healthy.

She finally tore herself away from her reflection and headed towards her kitchen for her morning coffee. The sounds of pots and pans clattering and angry swearing were unmistakable.

"Jesus Christ! Ouch! Fuck!"

April turned the corner and stopped in her tracks as she took in the scene before her. Jackson was standing in front of the stove, and he was cooking. Well, she wasn't sure if cooking was the right word, it was more like he was struggling to cook. There were bowls and ingredients scattered all over her countertop and Jackson himself was covered in flour.

"Jackson," she called softly.

He spun around and his eyes widened in alarm. "I didn't think that you'd be up yet." He turned towards the microwave and looked at the clock. "Shit."

"Umm, what are you doing?" She asked as she tentatively approached him. He seemed rather perturbed and he looked a little bit like a wild animal.

He sighed heavily and laid down the spatula in his hand in defeat. "I was trying to make you breakfast." He glanced around the kitchen and tried to explain his mess. "I started out with pancakes because I know that they're your favourite, but that was a disaster. Then I tried to make an omelet but I burnt it pretty bad so I threw it in the garbage, and then I moved on to the bacon but that's burning _me_ pretty bad."

She smiled as she gently placed both of her hands on his waist and steered him away from the stove. "I'm sure that some of this bacon is salvageable, and we can have toast. That's a great breakfast."

He stood behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I don't cook," he muttered.

"I know," she giggled, "which is why I'm confused." Jackson's idea of cooking was putting something in the microwave. He lived off of takeout pizza, roadside taco carts, and protein shakes.

"I dunno," he answered shyly, "I guess that I just wanted to do something nice for you. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

April smiled uncontrollably as she shoveled the bacon onto a plate. A few pieces were burnt beyond repair but most were edible. "Well thank you," she whispered. "It's very sweet, and you look kinda cute cooking in your underwear."

He chuckled, "Thanks."

She spun around in his arms and placed her hands on his chest. He looked absolutely ridiculous and she couldn't help but laugh loudly. "You're a mess." She tried to wipe some of the flour off his body but it was no use. "You need to shower."

"Come with me," he tried to bargain as he leaned forward to kiss her. "We can eat this pathetic attempt at breakfast later."

She opened her mouth to tell him that it wasn't a very good idea but nothing came out. He was already playing with the belt of her robe and he was hard to turn down when he was wearing so little.

"B-but…we don't…"

"I know," he grinned. "But I'm sure we can think of something. C'mon, I can make up for my miserable cooking skills in other delicious ways."

* * *

April stared at the chart in front of her but wasn't able to absorb any of the patient's information. She was distracted and it wasn't hard to discover why. Across the pit from her was Jackson. She had paged him earlier for a consult, and he was finished with his patient, yet he was still here. And he was still here because he was flirting with a nurse. He was flashing his beautiful smile and batting his eyelashes, and using every weapon that he had in his arsenal to disarm her.

She was trying to tell herself that it didn't mean anything, it was harmless and innocent, and she had pretty much been on two dates since they had started sleeping together and it's not like they were making out in front of her, but _still_. It still hurt no matter how much she told herself that it didn't.

It didn't matter.

_She _didn't matter.

She forced her eyes back to her chart and mindlessly twirled her pen in her hand. She had a job to do and Jackson Avery shouldn't be affecting her ability to work.

Sure, he was sweet and gorgeous, and he had tried to make her breakfast this morning, and he had the hands of a magician…

She ran a hand through her hair to rid herself of those thoughts. She needed to _stop_.

She tensed when she felt a hand on the small of her back minutes later.

"Hey," he whispered excitedly.

"Um, hi," she responded slowly.

It took all of his willpower not to place a kiss on her neck or slip his hand down to her ass. He was in such a great mood. While he had been conducting his consult, an idea had occurred to him. His attempt at making breakfast had failed but he could do something else nice for April. He had spotted Nurse Claudia, a woman who had hit on him many times in the past, and he had smooth talked her into making sure that April got the best traumas that came into the ER today. The woman had complied all too easily.

So he was having a great morning and he wanted to make the day even better. He and April had fooled around in the shower but he desperately wanted to be inside of her. "Can I talk to you for a second…alone?"

The red-head followed him without thought, prepared to give him a piece of her mind, but as soon as he had closed the on-call room door behind him, he gave her the most searing kiss. She melted against him and placed her hands on his biceps, she was sure that her knees had actually buckled.

"What was that for?" She asked in a breathy whisper.

He grinned as his large hands encircled her waist. "I've wanted to do that for hours." He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a condom. "I snatched one from the clinic," he declared triumphantly.

April chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced down at her shoes. She used to consider herself to have amazing willpower and discipline. She had fasted before and had gone on lengthy outings with her church group. She had the will to study for hours on end without pause. But throw Jackson Avery into the equation and all of that went out the window.

When she was around him, all that she wanted was _to be wanted_. She was weak and disgusting.

Jackson tenderly cradled her face and raised her head so that they were eye level. His thumb captured her bottom lip and pulled it out from between her teeth. "I like those lips, remember?" He smiled but it turned to a frown when she didn't smile back at him. "April? What are you thinking?" He leaned forward and brushed his nose against hers. "You can tell me."

That was the problem. She wasn't sure if she actually could tell him what she was thinking. It was all too much. But what she was thinking was bound to rush out eventually. It always did.

So she kissed him instead. Because deep down she wanted too. And because it was the only thing that she could do to rid herself of the mental image of him flirting with that nurse. Apparently, she was the jealous one today.

He returned her kiss eagerly, without question, and started to push her lab coat off of her shoulders.

* * *

After a very long and terrible day, April sat at a computer behind a nurses' station to finish off her shift. All of her feelings, all of her guilt and frustration and confusion, had rushed out of her at the worst time, like she knew that it eventually would, and Jackson was not happy with her. He had avoided her for the majority of the day and despite another round of amazing sex, the two conversations that they had managed to have hadn't gone well. They hadn't exactly been conversations per se, she had ranted and he hadn't exactly listened. He had walked out on her on two separate occasions, proving to her, yet again, that this was just sex to him.

She noticed him approaching her out of the corner of her eye but she turned away and hoped that he would pass her by. He was dressed in his street clothes and clearly on his way out of the hospital. Instead, he sat down in the chair beside her and turned her towards him.

She started to speak before he had the chance to finish his opening sentence. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sure that you would prefer your booty calls to be uncomplicated and void of feelings so I think you should probably just seek them somewhere else, okay, 'cause I know this is just sex to you and—"

He angrily interrupted her rapid fire speech. "It's not just sex. I mean, I wish it was. I pretend that it is because you have a good thing going with Jesus but it's not."

That was a shock to her. "It's not?"

"No," he replied quickly, "and stop calling me a car crash, or dessert, or acting like I'm bumming out Jesus." She hadn't mentioned Jesus in a while and when she had this morning, it had just sent him over the edge of the cliff that he had obliviously been perched upon. He couldn't keep hearing that he was her biggest mistake.

"I'm sorry! Yo-you made it seem like it was—"

He interrupted her yet again. "And stop acting like I don't have any feelings, okay? I have feelings. I got a lot of 'em."

"About what?" She questioned in disbelief.

He exploded, "You! About you! April! For you!"

She stared at him with slightly raised eyebrows and he hung his head in frustration. He had not intended to say that. He had just given far too much away.

He looked so broken and it made her feel ten times worse than she already did. She apologized quietly, "I'm...I'm so sorry…that I hurt them…y-your feelings…I…"

"It's okay," he breathed. "Just…"

"I-I thought it was just sex," she explained awkwardly.

What else was she supposed to think? They had never talked about what they were doing. He had never given her any indication that she was his girlfriend, or someone worthy of his affection, or someone that could be more than just his sex friend someday.

"Yeah, so did I," he answered with a humorless smile. It certainly started out that way, but he should have known better. Nothing with April Kepner was that simple. His mother had always said that April was capable of breaking hearts without even knowing it.

Out of nowhere, a wave of happiness rushed over her. If it wasn't just sex then maybe something really great could come out of this. "O-okay," she stuttered.

"Have a good night," he told her before she could say anymore. He needed to get out of here.

"Talk to you tomorrow," she responded automatically.

He stood up and left her staring, still in disbelief, at the space that he had occupied seconds ago.

He had feelings for her? Now, if possible, she was more confused than ever.

* * *

Jackson closed his eyes as he finished another beer. He carefully laid it on his kitchen counter next to its four empty friends. He didn't condone drinking alone but after the day that he had had, he needed something to take the edge off.

He heard his doorbell ring and it could only be one person. He sighed as he approached the door. For once, she was actually the last person that he wanted to see.

"April?"

She stood on his doorstep nervous and uneasy. She was still in shock and she wasn't sure how she had even gotten to his house. She had just drove and ended up here. After a very long silence, she looked at him and spoke quietly. "You said you have feelings. What kind of feelings?"

He swallowed harshly. He didn't want to talk about this. He _couldn't _talk about this. He didn't know how to be this vulnerable. He had never let someone have so much power over him before. "You know how I feel about you," he muttered as he leaned on his door.

She shook her head slowly. "No, I don't." That's why his declaration had come as such a huge shock to her. She had had no idea that it wasn't just sex to him. She could only guess how he felt about her and apparently her guesses had been inaccurate. She had just never let herself imagine that someone like him could feel that way about her. There had been moments that she had thought, 'well maybe', but she had ultimately disregarded them. She exhaled heavily before she spoke again. "Can I come in? Can we try to talk about this?"

He reluctantly pulled his door open wider and motioned for her to come inside. She walked into his living room and he followed her without a word.

They sat down on the sofa and neither of them made a sound. They didn't even look at each other.

April turned towards him and was the first one to speak. "Do you remember the first surgery you scrubbed in on? Like really remember it? Even the smallest detail?"

Jackson's brow furrowed in confusion. Where was she going with this? "Yeah, of course." It had been at Mercy West, his intern year, a liver transplant.

"Well—" She began but he cut her off.

"April," he spoke her name in irritation. "I can't handle another metaphor today." He had already had to hear about car crashes and desserts; he wasn't sure how much more he could take.

"Just listen." She placed her hand on top of his, which was resting on his knee, and rubbed her thumb along his skin. "Please." He gave her a small nod so she gathered her thoughts. "When you scrub in on your first surgery, you're nervous and excited, and it's everything you've ever imagined it would be and yet, at the same time, it's not. It's better than you ever imagined but it's like you never fully grasped what it would mean, what it's really like to have someone's life in your hands. You always romanticized it in your head but there's nothing really romantic about it at all, you have your hands in someone's open chest and—" She abruptly stopped herself when she realized that she was rambling without purpose. "The point is that everything you've ever imagined, everything you've ever done to prepare yourself for it, all of the studying you've done, none of it matters, because at the end of the day, your attending is throwing you in the deep end and you don't really know how to swim. You're going on instinct and how it feels and when it's over, even though all that you want to do is do it again, a small part of you hopes that you're never put in that situation ever again, because if it happens again, you're not sure how you'll handle it."

Jackson often didn't enjoy April's tendency to talk in metaphors but they always made sense to him. Sometimes he wished that she could be a little clearer about what she was trying to say, but he supposed that was a little hypocritical.

She was comparing sex to surgery and he understood that. They were the two great adrenaline rushes in their lives.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Jackson," she whispered. "I'm drowning here."

He scooted closer to her and whispered back. "You're not drowning."

"I am," she argued. "I don't…you never…I thought…I didn't know that it wasn't just sex."

And they were both to blame for that. They had done an equally good job of pushing aside their feelings and putting on masks that they thought the other person wanted to see.

"I thought that you just got jealous because you're a guy and that you said nice things out of obligation," she continued awkwardly. "I'm sorry that I—"

She stopped talking when Jackson cupped her face and tenderly kissed her on the lips. "Sometimes you talk too much, Kepner," he told her with a playful smile.

His body language was much less tense now and it made her sigh in relief. "I think that I've heard that before," she giggled.

He chuckled as he threaded a hand through her hair. He had been so pissed and frustrated today, but he had never been able to stay mad at her for long. Not when she talked so much that all he could do was look at her lips and fantasize. She had hurt him but apparently he was a masochist because he wanted more. He kissed her a few more times before he spoke again. "So what do you want to do?"

She knew that the tail end of his question was unspoken. He wanted to know what she wanted to do about them. "Can we just see where this goes?" She purposed tentatively. No matter how much she freaked out, she didn't want to give this up yet. Maybe they could start dating for real. Go out to dinner and the movies, and she could tell her parents about him.

He smiled sexily, "I would really like that."

Their lips joined in another soft kiss and she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. She placed a kiss on his neck before she asked shyly, "Can I stay over? No post-coital ramblings, I promise."

He grinned as he gently gripped her thighs. "Yeah, you can stay over." Now that she knew where he was coming from maybe things could be different. He lifted her into his arms and slowly stood up. He pulled her legs around his waist and nuzzled his face against her neck. "Can I take you to my bed?"

"Please," she responded breathlessly.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to explain a few things like why Jackson has never really seemed jealous of Matthew and why April thought that they were dating in 9x07, so I hope that I did that justice.**

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a final review! :)**


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